The only lead that matters in a basketball is the one that shows at the end of the game. BPCC (12-8, 6-5) had the lead in the game for the last 1.8 seconds left in the game. That was the shot that Jaedan Marshall took at the top of the key that pushed the Cavaliers to the 57-56 win at Billy Montgomery Gym on Wednesday night.
“Coach drew a play for me that we work on every day,” Marshall said. “I had no choice but to knock it down for the team. We worked too hard the whole game to lose it at the end. My defender did a good job getting through the screen but I knew if I had space I had to take the shot. The catch was a little bit deeper than I expected but I was confident it was going in when I took the shot.”
The win moved the Cavaliers into sole possession of the sixth place. The Cavalier controlled on the defensive end grabbing 31-19 defensive rebounds against Navarro.
Navarro Bulldogs (11-10, 5-6) tried to run away with the game early as they burst on an 11-2 run and pushed to a 26-13 lead midway through the first half. After a 3-pointer by Rodrell Dryden. A warning was issued to Marshall. A steal by Adrian Walker and score drew the technical on Marshall for a little excessive celebration. The Cavs had closed in 26-18. Navarro went on a small run pushed the lead back to 11. Navarro carried a 31-23 lead into halftime.
BPCC went on a 5-0 run behind Christian Caldwell basket and a three from Marshall. The Cavaliers chipped away at the Bulldog lead to 35-28. A couple of small runs for the Cavs kept getting closer to the Bulldogs. With 12:54 remaining, an alley-oop from Jeremy Richard to Caldwell for a dunk closed to 42-40 and forced a Bulldog timeout. Richard's coolness at the charity stripe finished off a 6-0 run that gave the first tie of the game at 42-42 with 11:18 to go. A three by Bulldogs’ Jaylen Harrison cooled the jets of the Cavs and regained the lead. Navarro pushed the lead back to four points with three minutes remaining. The gap moved to five with 20.7 seconds on a Xavier Pina three. Dryden countered with his three to close back to 56-54. A tussle at midcourt resulted in a jump ball that went the Cavs direction with 9.2 seconds. The final play took place with 1.8 seconds to give BPCC the lead behind Marshall’s shot and The Cavs were up 57-56. Navarro called timeout but the clock expired. The ref did hear the timeout and asked for 1.1 seconds to be put back. A launch from halfcourt to the goal resulted in a missed tip that gave the Cavs the win.
“It was not pretty by any means but we got the job done..” BPCC Coach J.A. Anglin said. “We battled start to finish against a very talented and well-coached Navarro team. It was a great all-around team effort by everyone involved. Rod Dryden made two huge plays with the corner three and steal on consecutive plays to give us a chance in the end. Jaeden fought his way through a tough game individually and came up huge for his team with the game-winner. Great focus and execution by our group down the stretch. Very proud of our resilience and fight throughout the game!”
Derrick Hamilton was the top scorer for the Cavaliers with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Rodrell Dryden bucketed 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Christian Caldwell netted 10 points. Jaeden Marshall scored three 3-pointers including the crucial game-winner and grabbed 5 boards. Jeremy Richard was the defensive weapon with 6 defensive rebounds and 7 overall. Kamryn Guidry also played a strong defense under the boards with 5 defensive rebounds and 6 overall. Eric McKnight grabbed five rebounds, all defensive. Kendrick Delahoussaye found the targets for scoring with 6 assists.
The Cavs will travel to Kilgore, TX on Saturday at 4:00 pm as they will have their hands full with Region XIV's first-place team and No. 2 Kilgore College (20-1, 10-1).
(Article by Shawn White, Under the Radar - NW Louisiana)