District 5AA Tournament Recap

(Above) Blake McGehee of Bowling Green

Buccaneers, Lady Jackets Prevail
By Darron Thomas
The District 5AA Tournament concluded last night at Centreville Academy with Bowling Green and Oak Forest going head to head in both championship games.

In the boys match up Bowling Green showed little sign of tired legs after Friday night’s overtime battle with Centreville. The Buccaneers spotted Oak Forest a 4-0 lead on two Travis Thornton baskets to start the game. Bowling Green knotted things up at 6-6 on an Andrew Wood 3-pointer with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter and at the 5:22 mark two Blake McGehee free throws gave Bowling Green their first lead of the night at 8-6. McGehee, who scored 12 points in the quarter, hit a basket just as the horn sounded to end the opening period to give Bowling Green a 26-12 lead.

(Below) #31 Andrew Wood of Bowling Green

A Drew Misita steal and basket pulled Oak Forest to 26-14 to start the second quarter but that would be the closest the Jackets would get on the night as two consecutive Andrew Wood 3-pointers and a Jaron Edwards steal and dunk pushed the lead to 34-17 with 5:20 left in the half. Bowling Green took a 44-28 lead into halftime and extended the advantage to 72-47 after three quarters of play as junior Jaron Edwards scored 23 of his game high 29 points in the second half. The Buccaneers cruised to a 90-58 win earning them their third straight 5AA championship.

Senior Blake McGehee had 22 points and 5 steals for Bowling Green, senior Andrew Wood added 15 points and junior center Shod Fortenberry had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Oak Forest got 17 points from senior Travis Thornton and 12 from sophomore Drew Misita.

(Above) Philip Ingraffia of Oak Forest gets the timeout
Bowling Green will represent District 5AA as the #1 seed at the south state tournament and will play the winner of the Riverfield/Prentiss game on Wednesday, February 11th at 7:45pm.

Oak Forest will face Columbia tomorrow at 7:45pm in round one.

(Above) Lindsey Oliver of Oak Forest

In the girls championship contest the Oak Forest Lady Yellow Jackets left little doubt as to who is the best team in district 5AA. Oak Forest ran out to a 12-0 lead over Bowling Green on a Lindsey Oliver 3-pointer with 4:55 left in the first quarter. After two Cadie Robertson free throws got Bowling Green on the board Oliver nailed another 3-pointer to extend the Jacket lead to 15-2 at 3:13 of the first quarter. A Whitney Crowe basket with just over two minutes left in the quarter pulled Bowling Green to 15-6 but that would be as close as the Lady Bucs would get. Oak Forest would finish the opening quarter with a 23-9 advantage and maintain a 42-27 halftime lead. (Above) Bowling Green's Whitney Crowe gets past Brittani Roy of Oak Forest
Oak Forest would grab their biggest lead of the night at 60-36 on a Cassie Bennett 12 footer two minutes into the final quarter. The Lady Jackets would get a game high 27 points (six 3-pointers) from senior guard Lindsey Oliver en route to a 65-45 win over Bowling Green to claim the tournament championship
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Seniors Lauren Brumfield and Cassie Bennett added 15 and 14 points on the night as the Lady Jackets hit nine 3-pointers.

Bowling Green was led by senior Cadie Robertson with 11 points, junior Whitney Crowe added 9 and Mackayla Dykes had 6 on the night.

Oak Forest enters the south state tournament next week as the #1 seed from District 5AA and will play the winner of the Riverfield/Simpson game on Wednesday, February 11th at 4pm.

Bowling Green will play Copiah Tuesday at 6:30 pm in round one with the winner to play Prairie View on Thursday.

In the girls consolation game earlier in the day the Silliman Lady Wildcats earned the #3 seed with a 52-26 win over the Amite School Center Lady Rebels. Silliman pushed out to a 24-10 halftime lead en route to the win. Senior Camille Brian led Silliman with 13 points, junior Holly Castello added 12, and senior Kelly Blackledge had 11.
ASC was led by senior Candy Swims with 9 points and junior Brooklyn Tetrick had 6 on the evening.

Silliman will be matched up with Columbia tomorrow at 6:30pm in round one of the south state tournament while ASC will battle Adams Christian on Tuesday at 4:00pm.

In the boys consolation game Centreville overcame a 21-10 halftime deficit to edge out the Central Private Rebels in overtime 52-45. The Tigers, playing in their second overtime game in less than 24 hours, outscored Central Private 42-24 in the second half which included a 7-0 overtime period. (Above) Centreville's Logan Felder #15 gets around CP's Britt Myer, #30
Centreville was led by Kyle Brown and Colby Lockwood with 13 points each, Jamie Dezendorf added 12.

Jason Young led Central Private with 18 points and Britt Myer added 12.

Centreville earned the #3 seed and will match up with Simpson on Tuesday at 7:45pm in round one while Central Private battles River Oaks Tuesday at 5:15pm.

*Note* Got a souvenir last night after leaving the school......a guy pulled me over to let me know how happy he was that we had visited. I have until March 24th to send him my thanks!