“Page Boy’s and Dudley Girls’s Take Home Metro 4A Conference Tournament Crowns”
Teara Johnson Leads the Lady Panthers to Title 40-34 over #1 Seed Lady Pirates
The first of these two thrilling games did not disappoint as the two teams battled from the opening tip. Ultimately the Lady Panthers fended of a few spurts from Page by a score of 40-34.
Both teams seemed to come out with some championship hopes as both were defending at a high level. The first quarter finished knotted up at 10-10 with Reagan Kargo scoring seven of her team high eleven points.
The Lady Panthers held Page to just 7 points in the second quarter and went into the locker room with a 22-17 lead.
The Lady Pirates came out of the half looking to take back over the lead as they scored four quick points. Dudley squandered this comeback on a 7-0 run of their own and went into the fourth quarter with a 31-27 lead.
Page just couldn’t quite overcome the gritty defense and paint presence of Shaquasia Taylor in the fourth as she scored 6 points late in the frame to seal the deal for the Panthers.
This is a huge confidence boost for Dudley as they will now look ahead to the playoffs and look to make a run. Don’t count out the Lady Pirates in the playoffs either as they can heat up at any time and a team not to be taken lightly.
Box Score:
Page
1st: 10
2nd: 17
3rd: 27
4th: 34
Dudley
1st: 10
2nd: 22
3rd: 31
4th: 40
Scoring:
Page
Reagan Kargo: 11pts
Amari Jackson: 7pts
Ava Casper: 6pts
Jersey Harris: 4pts
Emma Heard: 4pts
Tink Patterson: 2pts
Dudley
Teara Johnson: 13pts
Shaquasia Taylor: 10pts
Rayon Richards: 6pts
LeAna Hunt: 5pts
Sequoyah Johnson: 4pts
Tamya Boyd: 2pts
Page’s Balanced Scoring Effort Leads Pirates over Panther’s 56-51, Despite Big Night from Boulware
The second game of this double-header definitely did not disappoint. Both teams came with their best effort but The Page Pirates were able to come out on top as the game came down to the wire. Page had five players score eight or more points while Tim Boulware and DJ Crossen combined for 34 of Dudley’s 51 points.
From the opening tip you could tell how badly both teams wanted to win. Both teams made their runs in the first but ultimately ended up tied 13-13 after the first frame.
The second quarter it was much of the same as both Dudley and Page were scrapping on defense trying to shut down the other. It was a very physical game as the referees let the two teams play while keeping it under control. Page ultimately went into the locker room with a 25-22 halftime lead
The third period was again a low scoring affair as both teams scored in single digits. The Pirates were able to hold onto a 33-31 lead heading into the fourth.
In the final frame both teams seemed to come alive as the thirst for winning that conference crown was evident. The quarter started off with a steal from Brandon Talton who quickly put in a fast break layup. Talton was huge off of the bench for the Pirates scoring eight points and doing a lot of the dirty work to help his team win.
The two fought tooth and nail down the stretch until Elijah Short was able to hit two huge threes to put the Pirates up by five with about a minute left. After a few empty possessions from both teams the game seemed to be over until DJ Crossen pulled up for a 27 footer and drained it with 9 seconds left and bringing the Panthers within 2. On the ensuing possession Brandon Talton was fouled with 7.5 seconds left on the clock and made 2 big free throw putting Page up 4. Crossen then came down and shot a three and was fouled putting him on the line. He would miss the first and make the second. On an attempt to tie the game Crossen intentionally missed the free throw in hope for an offensive rebound but Page’s Terrell Davis came away with the ball and was fouled and ultimately iced the game.
Dudley got a huge effort from Tim Boulware who might have been the player of the game even with the loss as he scored 20 points and seemed to grab every rebound in sight.
Tylan Tatum paced the Pirates with 12 points and manned the paint battling with the Dudley bigs. Elijah Short and Jordan Smith both had 11 points for Page as well.
Both of these teams now look to the playoffs. If both of these teams play as hard as they did tonight they can make some noise down the road.
Box Score
Page
1st: 13
2nd: 25
3rd: 33
4th: 56
Dudley
1st: 13
2nd: 22
3rd: 31
4th: 51
Scoring:
Page
Tylan Tatum: 12pts
Elijah Short: 11pts
Jordan Smith: 11pts
Jahlen King: 9pts
Brandon Talton: 8pts
Trent McIntyre: 3pts
Terrell Davis: 2pts
Dudley
Tim Boulware: 20pts
DJ Crossen: 14pts
Josh Hopkins: 9pts
Jon Zeltous: 4pts
Nigel Fitzgerald: 2pts
J’vonte Hines: 2pts
*****Big thanks to Southeast Guilford High School for hosting the tournament as they did a fantastic job playing host. Tonight was some high level basketball through and through. Both games saw the teams compete and give their all. There was a great atmosphere in the gym tonight as capacity had to be full if not over the 2000 person limit. School support was shown as many “Lets go Panthers” and “Lets go Pirates” filled the gym throughout the evening. Good luck to both schools as they look ahead to the playoffs.*****
#42 is no longer Thomas Murray, it’s Terrell Davis now; due to jersey change.
Terrell Davis came away with the ball and hit the free throws to follow.