TUESDAY NIGHT BOYS BASKETBALL - River Bluff wins in OT

Airport boosts post-season hopes with victory

THOMAS GRANT JR.
chroniclesports@yahoo.com
Posted 2/12/20

Head coach Benjamin Lee has experienced his share of challenges with this year's River Bluff boys' basketball team.

The Gators have mostly competed in Region 5-5A without top scorer Malachi …

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TUESDAY NIGHT BOYS BASKETBALL - River Bluff wins in OT

Airport boosts post-season hopes with victory

Posted

Head coach Benjamin Lee has experienced his share of challenges with this year's River Bluff boys' basketball team.
The Gators have mostly competed in Region 5-5A without top scorer Malachi Reeves following a season-ending knuckle fracture.  Another leading scorer, Myles Jenkins, also missed time due to injury. 
Despite the setbacks, Lee and River Bluff emerged from the Wolves Den Thursday with their region title hopes still very much alive. The Gators defeated White Knoll 40-38 in overtime to improve to 17-7 overall, 4-3 in the region.
Sophomore Tae'jon Myers' layup with 1.5 seconds left was the difference in the low-scoring contest. It was his only points of the game for River Bluff.
Jenkins finished with 18 points, 6 in overtime,  and Josh Cranshaw who had 11 before fouling out in the 4th quarter.
The victory tied River Bluff with Lexington for 2nd place in the region standings. The 2 archrivals meet Thursday in Lexington with a winner having a chance to finish tied with the Silver Foxes should they lose to White Knoll Thursday at home. 
Since the Gators split their 2 meetings with Dutch Fork, they would have an opportunity to meet the Silver Foxes again at a neutral site Friday in a 1-game playoff to determine the region champion.
River Bluff led 15-12 at halftime. The Timberwolves then outscored the Gators 15-8 in the 3rd quarter to take a 27-23 lead.
The 4th quarter saw both teams exchange free throws in the final minutes. Jenkins made 2 from the line to tie the game at 32-32 with 1:42 left and it remained deadlocked at the end of regulation.
Jenkins opened overtime with 3 points after hitting a free throw and rebounding his own miss from the line for a putback. White Knoll (15-10, 3-4) answered with 4 straight points to reclaim the lead before Jenkins answered with a layup to make it 37-36 River Bluff with 54.2 seconds left.
Jenkins made another free throw and a driving hook shot by the Timberwolves' Jalen Ray tied the game at 14-14 with 21 seconds left. After a timeout, River Bluff set up an inbounds play where Myers caught the ball right under the basket to convert the layoff.
"When he first kind of transferred in, he's a sophomore trying to learn his role, learn the guys and every game, every practice, develops more and more. I'm glad he's here." 
Lee now hopes his former Lexington High School teammate and White Knoll head coach Devin Liferidge can play the spoiler role again to his benefit.
"I need my buddy Devin to (win)," Lee said. "He's done it before. A couple of years ago, we needed him to beat Lexington on their Senior Night to officially put us in the playoffs. I think I still owe him a steak dinner for that. So I'll be happy to buy him another." 

Gray Collegiate 81, Eau Claire 40
Four players scored in double figures as top-ranked Gray Collegiate won its 10th straight game and another 20-win season. 
Zaire Rogers led the War Eagles (20-6, 7-1) with 15 points, followed by Tauris Watson with 14, Latavian Lawrence with 11 and Chase McDuffie with 10.
Gray Collegiate will open its quest for a 3rd straight state title Feb. 19 at Allen University. It will have homecourt advantage throughout the Class 2A Upper State playoffs.

Irmo 54, Dutch Fork 46
C.J. Washington posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Dylan Williams added 10 as the 2nd ranked Yellow Jackets completed the season sweep of the "Battle of Irmo".
It was career win number 778 for Irmo head coach Tim Whipple. He's the winningest active head coach in S.C. High School League history and 2nd all time. 
Irmo (21-3, 7-0) closes out the regular season finale at home against Sumter. 


Airport  73, South Aiken 72
It was a Senior Night to remember for Nanders "Butch" Lawrence. 
He led all scorers with 24 points and Jeremiah Harris added 20 for the Eagles (12-13, 3-6). The win not only avenged a 62-47 loss on Jan. 24, but moved Airport into a 3rd place tie with the Thoroughbreds.
The Eagles can clinch a playoff berth with a win Friday at Brookland-Cayce. The game is this week's Rush's High School Hoops Game of the Week on WACH 57 and can be viewed on Spectrum Cable (Channel 1250) or online at www.wach.com.


Aiken 63, Brookland-Cayce 52
The Bearcats (12-13, 2-7) saw their post-season hopes take a crushing hit with the loss to the front-running Hornets.
They now must defeat archrival Airport Friday at home to create a tie for 4th place in Region 5-4A and set up a play-in game. 


Lexington 39, Chapin 33
The Wildcats held on for the road win and look to finish tied with Dutch Fork in the final Region 5-5A standings.
Before of the head-to-head tiebreaker (the Silver Foxes won both meetings), Lexington can only finish as high as 2nd place with a win Thursday over River Bluff. 
 

River Bluff Lee basketball

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