Fantastic finish gives Bulldogs spot in playoffs

By James Wood
Posted 2/13/13

The Quitman Bulldogs clinched their first playoff appearance since 2007 last Friday night in an electrifying 61-59 victory over the Lone Oak Buffalos.

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Fantastic finish gives Bulldogs spot in playoffs

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The Quitman Bulldogs clinched their first playoff appearance since 2007 last Friday night in an electrifying 61-59 victory over the Lone Oak Buffalos.

The Buffs won the tip off and nailed two 3-point shots before senior Lenzie Foley found the basket to open up the scoring for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs played well on defense in the first period allowing very few shots on goal but had trouble making the shots on the basket finding themselves down 10-8 after the period.

Senior Austin White gave Quitman their first lead of the game with six minutes left in the half. The lead changed several times throughout the remainder of the half until Dadriean Tennyson got the rebound and a slam dunk with three minutes left.

Junior Evan Henry was able to work his way through a host of Buffalo defenders for the lay-up the lead 18-14.

Lone Oak got on the board first in the second half of the game however Foley was sent to the line and shot for two. Lone Oak closed the gap 20-19 with a three point shot with less than six minutes left to play in the third.

Henry also went to the line to give Quitman a 23-22 lead with four minutes left in the period. Quitman goes up 27-23 when Lone Oak gets called for a technical foul with six men on the court. Henry made one of his two shots to further Quitman's lead.

The Bulldogs went into the fourth period up by eight at 33-25. Lone Oak cut the Bulldogs lead down to three before Henry sank a three shot to put Quitman up 38-32. Quitman was up by 10 points with three minutes left in the game before Lone Oak hit several three point shots to close the lead and tie the game with less than one second on the clock, sending the game into overtime.

The Quitman fans went wild when Tennyson won the tip off for the Bulldogs.

Senior Jacob Hurley drew the foul and made both shots at the line for the Bulldogs. Tennyson made a shot under the basket for two points before the Buffaloes made a three point shot to tie the game at 52.

Senior Jake Jackson made an aggressive steal and bounced the ball off of a Lone Oak player's chest and into the basket for two. Austin White got another steal and drew the foul on the lay-up making both shots at the line.

Lone Oak sinks another three point shot to tie the game at 56 with less than one minute left to play. White gets the steal for two points and on the next Buffalo possession Tennyson blocks the shot giving Hurley the rebound but drew a foul giving the Bulldogs a 58-56 lead with 38 seconds left on the clock. Lone Oak ties the game with 18.5 seconds on the clock. The Bulldogs work the ball down the court then handing the ball over to Henry who drives to the basket for the game winning lay-up as the clock expired.

In the stands Quitman students were on their feet throughout the entire overtime period cheering on the Bulldogs giving them the support to finish the game on top.

On Tuesday night, the Bulldogs were more than the Panthers could handle defeating Alba-Golden 58-36. The Bulldogs controlled the game from the start imposing their will on Alba-Golden outscoring the Panthers 20-8 in the first period.

In the second the Bulldogs put up just 10 points but only allowed the Panthers to score seven. The Bulldogs went into the half with a 30-15 lead.

The Panthers were able to outscore the Bulldogs 12-10 in the third period howeverthePanthersweretoofarbehindtocatchupwithQuitman. In the fourth, the Bulldogs looked to prove a point to the Panthers as they put up 18 points while only allowing Alba-Golden to score nine.

The Bulldogs traveled to Como-Pickton Tuesday night after Democrat press time. Head Basketball Coach Erick Hicks was unsure of who and when the Bulldogs would compete against in the playoff game but said he expects the game to be scheduled on the 18th or 19th of February.

The JV boys also won both games last week defeating Alba-Golden 49-45 and trumped Lone Oak 47-28.