ANDREW GARNER

ANDALUSIA STAR-NEWS

 

Brantley went on a 24-0 run in the third period and beat Opp 67-44 on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs trailed by four at 28-24 after the Bobcats put together an excellent second period, getting runners and making defensive stops during a 9-0 run.

However, BHS senior guard Wesley Person scored 18 of his 40 points in the third to help give the Bulldogs a healthy 51-32 lead going into the fourth.

OHS had a good plan in motion to stop Person as it put two players on the stand out throughout the second period. It was Person who stopped Opp’s run in the second with one of his eight 3-pointers of the night.

For the Bobcats, who finished in fifth place at Andalusia’s 47th annual invitational tournament, it was a tail of two halves.

“I was proud of the way they played in the first half,” OHS coach Sterling Driver said. “They didn’t play hard at all in the second half.”

Nobody finished in double figures for the Bobcats, who had JaKeith Edwards, Tavise Stoudemire and Derek Savage lead the team in points with eight each. Orlando Lacey finished with seven.

Brantley’s Darian Jones had 12 points in the win.

Person and Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game, and BHS lead 6-0 before Opp got on the board on a Chris Morrow baseline jumper.

Person added two foul shots and Jones nailed a 3-pointer and before the Bobcats knew it, the Bulldogs led 11-2 with 4:44 left in the first.

Person later made it 15-4 on a turnaround jumper off of a pass from Ken’Yada Teague.

Edwards got in the scorer’s book with a 3-pointer to cut the game to 17-7, and then followed that up with a jumper to make it an 8-point game.

Opp’s Ty White made the last points for the Bobcats in the first on a rebound-putback to edge Brantley’s lead to 19-12.

The stellar second-period performance for OHS started when Savage made two foul shots after getting a steal when the Bobcats started playing with pressure.

OHS started using its full-court press to get some turnovers, and Lacey’s rebound and putback later cut the lead to 19-16.

White cut the game to one with a nice pass to Stoudemire on the inside, making it a 19-18 game.

Stoudemire would give Opp its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer to conclude the 9-0 run.

BHS went ahead 24-21, but the Bobcats found their inside game again as Stoudemire found Savage in the paint to cut it back to one.

There was a great race from East to West a few minutes later as both teams traded possessions.

Lacey made one foul shot after a timeout, Savage got an up and in and Lacey later got a steal and layup in for OHS to take into halftime with a 28-24 lead.

Brantley’s 24-0 run in the third started when Bulldogs’ senior forward Stefan King got an and-one play. Person drove the lane and made a putback to give BHS its lead back at 30-28.

After BHS made it 32-28, Person scored the next 11 points.

Opp finally broke the run up when Edwards passed to Dyrian Savage for an easy bucket to make it 48-30.

OHS continued to struggle throughout the fourth period as it put up shots that wouldn’t go in the basket.

The Bobcats will next be in action at Red Level’s 16th annual Christmas Tournament on Thursday morning. OHS plays Elba at 10:30.