Boys Round Two Recap

Bowling Green, Trinity qualify for State

By Darron Thomas

The Bowling Green Buccaneers advanced to the AA South State semi-finals last night with a 79-58 win over Prentiss Christian. With the win Bowling Green will meet the winner of today’s Simpson/Chamberlain-Hunt winner on Friday at 6:00pm.
Prentiss found itself down 12-2 on a Jaron Edwards 3-pointer halfway into the opening quarter last night. Prentiss senior Hunter McPhail answered with a 3-pointer of his own at the 3:05 mark to pull the Saints to within six points at 13-7. The lead grew to 19-9 on a Blake McGehee lay-up with 1:44 left in the first quarter. The quarter ended with Prentiss facing a 23-14 deficit. Bowling Green would extend the lead to 31-17 on a Shod Fortenberry basket two minutes into the second quarter.

(Above) Ethan Lee of Prentiss surveys the Bowling Green defense
Prentiss hung around and with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter Hunter McPhail nailed two free throws to narrow the margin to 47-42. Bowling Green would answer with a 9-1 run that included two Jaron Edwards 3-pointers.
Bowling Green took a 58-45 lead into the fourth quarter and managed to hold Prentiss at bay on their way to the 79-58 win.
Jaron Edwards led Bowling Green with 32 points, Shod Fortenberry added 15, and Andrew Wood had 9.
Prentiss was led by Moochie Speights with 22 points and Hunter McPhail added 16 on the night.

(Above) Travis Thornton of OFA and Trinity's Andrew Johnson

The Trinity Saints earned a trip to the semi-finals with a hard fought 65-54 win over the Oak Forest Yellow Jackets last night. The first quarter saw five lead changes with Trinity holding a slim 13-11 lead after one quarter of play.
Trinity would go up 17-12 on a Brandon Daggs basket off an Oak Forest turnover just one minute into the second quarter. Oak Forest wouldn’t see a lead in the quarter as Trinity extended out to a 30-22 lead on a Giovonni Dent bucket with two minutes left in the half. A Baylor Blanchard offensive rebound and basket and two free throws one minute later pulled the Jackets to 30-26 with 45 seconds left in the second quarter. Andrew Johnson’s free throw would end the half with Trinity up 31-26.

In the third quarter a Kent King steal and lay-up with just under five minutes left in the quarter put Trinity up 39-28 and forced an Oak Forest timeout. The Jackets battled back to trim the deficit to 42-37 with 1:40 left in the third, then got a basket from Travis Thornton and a 3-point bucket from Drew Misita in the last 33 seconds to knot things up at 42-42 entering the fourth quarter.
A Drew Misita free throw to open the final quarter gave Oak Forest it’s first lead since the 2:10 mark of the opening quarter. The lead was short lived as RJ Fleming canned a 6-footer to put Trinity back on top at 44-43 with seven minutes remaining. After an Oak Forest miss at the free throw line Trinity would go on an 8-2 run to build the lead back to 52-45 and force another Jacket timeout. Oak Forest could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as Trinity eliminated Oak Forest 65-54. (Above) Trinity's Brandon Daggs
Senior Andrew Johnson led Trinity with 26 points and junior Brandon Daggs added 16 on the night.
Drew Misita had a game high 28 points to lead Oak Forest and Baylor Blanchard added 16.
Next up for Trinity will be the winner of today’s Brookhaven/River Oaks contest.