BRAGGS – The 15th ranked Braggs Wildcats (14-9) came back in the final period to overtake the 14th ranked Paden Pirates (18-9) in foul filled affair Tuesday night.
Braggs opened the game with a 3-point lead after one period 18-15, but the Pirates closed the gap to just 1 point at the half 36-35.
Paden went to the line eight times in the first half making all eight attempts, 6 of which came from Kavon Jones who was 6-for-six from the charity stripe, along with a 3-pointer from beyond the bonus stripe.
The Wildcats had 13 attempts at free throws in the half and connected on just 7 of the 13 attempts.
From the floor, Hazen Edwards, Burr Jaynes and Daryl Winter combined for 34 of the Wildcats 36 first half points. Jaynes had 12 points in the half with Edwards and Winter each scoring 11 points.
The Pirates first half top scorers were Jones and Bryce Kader each with 13 first half points. Nine of Kader’s points were via 3-pointers, and six of Jones’ came from the foul line where he was 6-for-8.
After the break, Paden went in front in the third quarter 49-48 and widened that margin to 6 points in the final period with just 3:29 remaining.
Jaxson Gaskill came up big for Paden in the second half, scoring 16 of Paden’s 28 second half points including two 3-pointers.
The Pirates 6-point advantage began to fade late in the final period when they attempted several ill-advised shots while having the lead that allowed the Wildcats to close the gap to 2 points with 1:26 remaining.
Braggs took the lead with under a minute left to play, and Paden was forced to foul to get possession with all their top scorers over the limit of fouls and sitting on the bench.
Winter sealed the deal with just seconds remaining with an exclamation point dunk to take the score to 69-63 and the clock at 0:02.
Winter led the way for Braggs with 31 points, Jaynes had 17 and Edwards 15. The Pirates were led by Gaskill with 19 points, Kader with 16 and Jones with 15 points.
With the win Braggs remains in the winners bracket to move on to Agra to face Deer Creek Saturday in the Regional semi-final with a guarantee of advancing to the Area tournament. Paden also will go to Agra to face the Shidler-Agra winner in a must-win consolation bracket game on Friday night.
0 Comments