This is the stuff that legends are made of. The Blue Cross Basketball Championships officially got underway today with one of the best games the tournament has ever seen.
One of the largest crowds to ever grace the Murphy Center for the state tournament watched a furious Brentwood second half rally culminated by a dagger at the buzzer from Stetson signee Asa Duvall (Brentwood) lifting the Bruins to a 52-49 victory over previously unbeaten Blackman.
The Blaze seemed to have things under control leading 29-11 at the half before Brentwood behind Duvall and rising junior Andy Schumpert (Brentwood) began to chip away at the lead. The Bruins outscored Blackman 41-20 in the second half.
Duvall led the Bruins with 15 while Schumpert added 14 in the narrow victory. James McPherson (Brentwood) had an outstanding game controlling the tempo and dishing out 8 assists.
Darius Thompson (Blackman) led all scorers with 18 points. Sophomore Juaun Jennings (Blackman) added 13.
Southwind 69
Oak Ridge 47
The Jaguars placed four players in double digits and slowly ran away against Oak Ridge 69-47. Lipscomb signee Peyton Husley (Southwind) led with 17 points and 10 boards. Jonathan Williams (Southwind) pitched in with 15 and Jujuan Johnson (Southwind) and Deckie Johnson (Southwind) finished with 13.
Jaylin Henderson (Oak Ridge) led thr Wildcats with 15. Isaac Merian (Oak Ridge) and Cory Fagan (Oak Ridge) added 11 and 10 respectively.
Dyer County 40
Hillsboro 35
Robert Hubbs (Dyer County) scored 11 markers and the Choctaws held on in a hard fought contest to advance to the semi-final round against Siegel.
Siegel 53
Maryville 47
Ryan Jones (Siegel) scored 20 leading the Stars of Siegel to a 53-47 victory over Maryville. Charles Clark (Siegel) finished with 14 for the Stars in the win.
Clark McCall (Maryville) led the Rebels with 18 points.
Lake County 53
Watertown 50
Devon Jones (Lake County) scored 22 points and snatched 11 caroms leading Lake County to a hard fought overtime win over Watertown 53-50. Zay Coleman (Lake County) added 16 for Lake County.
Macio Gaines (Watertown) had a great game for Watertown finishing with 16 points and 18 boards. Junior guard Ty Jobe (Watertown) added 12 in the close loss.
Richland 54
Grace Christian 46
Cody Jordan (Richland) scored 22 points and Richland held off Grace Christian 54-46. The win sets up a semi-final contest against Lake County on Friday. Jordan was assisted in the scoring column by Markus Batchelder (Richland) with 16 points.
Luke Sheppard (Grace Christian) led the Rams with 15. Matt Holland (Grace Christian) finished with 12.
