Crockett Wins Nail-Biter, 66-62
“Dawg Fight” Decided by Late FTs
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – There was a “dawg fight” on Tuesday night inside the Andrew J. Hopkins Activity Center as the Crockett Bulldogs hosted the New Waverly Bulldogs in a basketball battle of former district rivals.
Crockett came into the contest with a record of 1-0 and a #6 ranking in Class 3A while New Waverly was unranked and sported a 0-1 mark.
The game was a back-and-forth affair that could have gone either way, but in the end, a driving basket from Jordan Bedford along with three FTs from Teddy Jones sealed a 66-62 win for the hometown Bulldogs.
New Waverly took an early lead as they used three, 3-pointers in the first quarter to open up a 16-12 margin during the first eight minutes of play.
Sebastine Amaro dropped in a pair of threes for six points in the period while Aaron McBride also added a three as part of his five points in the quarter. Joe Bryant had four and Gavin Chamberlain converted one of two from the charity stripe.
Crockett was paced by All-State center Allen Horace who knocked down eight points in the first. Horace was joined in the scoring column by Cristian Brice and Ty White, who both had two.
The second quarter saw the Bulldogs in blue turn up the tempo of the game, erase the four-point deficit and take a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
Tayshawn Simon drained a pair of shots from behind the arc as part of his eight points in the second period. Jordan Bedford and Teddy Jones dropped in four apiece while White, Keshaun Easterling and Demetrius Williams all had two each to give Crockett a 34-33 lead at the break.
For New Waverly, Blake Krienke knocked down a pair of threes – including one at the buzzer – while McBride had four in the second quarter for the Bulldogs in maroon. Chris McCray had three as both Amaro and Cameron Bell had two points apiece to close out the first half scoring.
After the break, New Waverly came out strong and built a five-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Crockett came storming back and when Horace powered inside for two, the hometown Bulldogs only trailed by one. A steal and a basket from White gave Crockett the lead at the 3:24 mark, 45-44.
New Waverly wouldn’t go away, however, and regained the lead. Bedford answered back for Crockett as he hit a three with 1:49 left in the quarter to put the Houston County Bulldogs up as the quarter came to an end with Crockett ahead 52-49.
Horace dominated the paint in the third as he put in nine points. Bedford added five as both White and Tre Hawkins had two each.
The New Waverly third quarter points came from McBride with six and McCray with five. Amaro connected on his third three of the game and Bell rounded out the New Waverly scoring with two.
Crockett opened up the fourth quarter with a mini-run to push their lead out to seven. New Waverly cut the lead to five at the 5:02 mark and then Bell hit a three to trim the deficit to only two.
Following a Crockett turnover, a pair of free throws tied the game at 58 and less than a minute later, New Waverly took a 60-58 lead, with 3:27 left to play.
An old-fashioned three-point play on a drive by Bedford put Crockett ahead, but New Waverly regained the upper hand on a pair of FTs from Amaro, which made the score 62-61.
New Waverly had a chance to extend the lead, but Amaro missed a pair of free throws, giving Crockett the opportunity it needed.
Jones corralled the rebound on the second missed FT attempt and went coast-to-coast to give Crockett a lead it would not relinquish.
Following a New Waverly turnover, Jones was fouled and calmly dropped in a pair from the charity stripe. Another foul sent Jones back to the line where he made one of two to seal the Crockett Bulldogs 66-62 win over the New Waverly Bulldogs.
On the game, New Waverly was led in scoring by Sebastine Amaro with a game-high 19 points. Aaron McBride poured in 15, while Cameron Bell had nine and Chris McCray went for eight. Blake Krienke added six, Joe Bryant had four and Gavin Chamberlain chipped in a free throw to round out the New Waverly scoring.
Crockett was paced by three players in double figures. Allen Horace pounded in 17 as Jordan Bedford dropped in 13 and Teddy Jones had 12. Both Tayshawn Simon and Ty White dropped in eight while four other Bulldogs – Cristian Brice, Keshaun Easterling, Tre Hawkins and Demetrius Williams – all had two.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
