Photo/Kevin Pearcey

Pike County’s Shermondre Jackson floats down the lane during an earlier season loss to Calhoun. The Bulldogs will take on Elba in the first round of the area tournament starting on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

Bulldogs drop Wetumpka, 65-64, prepare for area tournament

By ROBBY SMITH

Sports Writer

BRUNDIDGE – Senior guard Tyrone Boyd hit a short jumper with 90 seconds remaining to break a tie as the Pike County High School Bulldogs

held off the Wetumpka Indians 65-64 in an overtime affair at Bulldog Gym Monday night.

It was the regular season finale for the Bulldogs (9-15) as they begin preparation for the start of the Class 3A Area 2 Boys Tournament. Pike County will open up postseason action on Saturday night in the first game against Elba (12-9) who played Goshen late Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on the Calhoun High School campus near Fort Deposit (Lowndes County). The second game will feature the number five ranked Calhoun Tigers (20-6) facing Luverne (7-15) at 7:30 p.m. The winners from Saturday’s games will face off on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for the area title.

The game was ragged from the opening tipoff as both teams either turned the basketball over or missed easy opportunities to score. In the first quarter, the Bulldogs got the ball inside on numerous occasions as the Indians

found themselves in early foul trouble. However, Pike County was able to hit only 4-of-10 first quarter free throws as they settled for a 14-13 lead after the opening eight minutes.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs led as much as six points before the Indians hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 19-19 with four minutes remaining in the first half. From that point forward, the biggest lead either team could manage throughout the remainder of the contest was five points.

During the final four minutes of the first half, there were two ties and three lead changes before the Bulldogs settled for a 32-28 lead going into halftime. Nick Walker scored all of his 10 points in the first half to help Pike County stay in front.

In the third quarter, the battle was on once again as the lead changed hands four more times to go along with two ties. Shermondre Jackson scored the final six points of the period for Pike County, while Octavius Reeves hit a pair of three pointers in the final minute of action to tie the game at 45-45 heading into the final stanza.

Early in the fourth quarter, the 5A Indians (9-15) appeared to have taken control of the contest. Trailing 48-47 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation, Wetumpka went on a 6-0 run thanks to a pair of made shots by Antron Jackson as the Bulldogs went on a long scoring drought. The Indians held a 53-48 lead with 3:09 remaining in the final stanza.

However, the Bulldogs snapped out of their 4:16 scoring funk at just the right time when Marquez Foster nailed a three pointer to cut the deficit to 53-51 at the 2:06 mark of the fourth period. Following a Wetumpka turnover, Jackson hit a layup to tie the game at 53-53 with 1:31 left in regulation.

Following an offensive foul on Wetumpka, the Bulldogs took advantage of the miscue when Foster tipped in a missed Tyrone Boyd shot to give PCHS a 55-53 lead with 31 seconds remaining. After an exchange of turnovers, both teams missed free throw opportunities which could have helped Pike County and Wetumpka’s cause. As a result, the score remained the game until Wetumpka’s Jonathan George was fouled in the act of shooting with two seconds remaining. George calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 55-55 going into overtime.

In the overtime period, the Bulldogs never trailed but couldn’t breathe easy until the final second as the Indians were unable to get off a shot on the last possession to help preserve the one-point win. Jackson and Foster combined to score eight of Pike County’s 10 points in overtime. However, it was Boyd’s field goal which broke a 61-61 tie that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good.

Jackson led the Bulldogs with 18 points and five rebounds while Foster had 16 points along with six rebounds. Boyd finished the game scoring 12 points after a dismal two point effort Thursday night at Goshen. Michael Walker finished the game with eight points and six boards.

Unofficially, the Bulldogs finished with 32 rebounds compared to Wetumpka’s 26 boards.

Reeves paced Wetumpka with 18 points and

a game high eight rebounds while Jackson finished with 16 points. George, who hit the two free throws to tie the game at the end of regulation, scored 10 points in a losing cause.

After struggling early in the game at the foul line, the Bulldogs hit their last seven free throws in the contest against the Indians.

Wennica Foster scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds to lead a balanced attack as the Pike County High School Lady Bulldogs hit some key free throws down the stretch to pull away with a 37-28 victory over the Wetumpka Lady Indians Monday night.

It was also the last game of the regular season for the Lady Bulldogs (9-12) as they begin postseason play this weekend. Pike County will face Calhoun (14-11) on Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in Elba while the host Lady Tigers (19-5) will face Luverne at approximately 6:30 p.m. The two survivors will meet on Monday night at 7 p.m. for the area title.

Other individual statistical leaders included Stephanie Caffie scoring six points while Decaqalyn Rodgers, Marla Boykin and Candice Nickson each scored five points in the winning effort. Unofficially, Pike County outrebounded Wetumpka 23-19 for the contest.