Tech spoils Chicks' Senior Night

One week after beating Nettleton on a shot in overtime with time winding down, the Blytheville Chickasaws found themselves in a similar situation against rival Greene County Tech. Trailing 43-41 with under a minute to play in the fourth period, the Chicks needed a basket to tie the game. This time, however, there would be no fantastic finish for the Chicks. Merrendes Jackson lifted a three-point attempt with about 10 seconds left on the clock that bounced off the rim.

"I think he (Jackson) might have got caught up with the crowd yelling and people telling him to shoot it," said Blytheville head coach Jeff Flanigan. "I just think he got caught up in that moment. It hurt us not having Isaac (Kelly) out there for the last sequence. He's really our play maker in that situation."

Kelly had fouled out of the game moments before the final Blytheville possession.

With two and a half minutes remaining in the game and the score knotted up at 41-41, Tech went to a stall offense to play for the last shot. Kelly, playing with four fouls at the time, fouled Blake Chesser near mid-court sending him to the line for a pair of free throws.

"We didn't wan't to foul at that time," said Flanigan. "We felt confident in our defense and thought we had defended it well."

Chesser knocked down both free throws giving Tech the lead with under a minute to play.

A fight for the rebound after Jackson's miss had the ball go off of Larry Bolden's hands and out of bounds to the Eagles with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. Tanner Perkins knocked down a pair of free throws after the inbounds pass for Tech and the Eagles escaped with a 45-41 win Tuesday night in front of a large "Senior Night" crowd at Chickasaws Gym.

Prior to Tech's four made free throws, the Eagles had shot just 6 for 12 from the line on the night while the Chicks did the job at the line shooting 15 for 19.

"We did everything but win," said Flanigan. "We played them right in the scoring range that we wanted to. If you would have told us that you have an opportunity to beat Tech at home in the final seconds, we'll sign up for that every time."

Blytheville stayed right with the second place Eagles all night. Neither team held more than a four-point lead at anytime in the game. The game was tied at 10-10 after the first period.

Tech's Dylan Faulkner hit back-to-back three pointers midway through the second period as the Eagles took a slim, 21-17, lead into the locker room at halftime.

Bolden helped the Chickasaws keep pace Tuesday night. In his final game at Chickasaw Gym the senior came up with a huge game scoring a game high 22 points-11 in each half.

"Bolden played big time tonight," said Flanigan. "The only thing that didn't happen was that we didn't win. But he really carried us tonight as a senior should. He's carried us with his leadership all year but he carried us on the floor tonight."

For the game, Bolden's 22 paced the Chicks, Kelly added seven, Kevenion Whitfield chipped in six, Jackson scored four and Marquise Selvy scored two.

Faulkner led Tech with 10 points and Landon Long added nine.

The Chicks drop to 5-21 overall and 5-8 in the 5A-East with one game remaining. They'll head to Batesville Thursday night to take on the Pioneers.

GIRLS

Greene County Tech 45, Blytheville 32

The Blytheville Lady Chickasaws trailed by just six points at halftime before Greene County Tech outscored them, 14-6, in the third period on their way to a 45-32 win over the Lady Chickasaws Tuesday night at Chickasaw Gym.

Tech scored the final four points of the first half to lead 25-19 at the break and started the third period on a 10-2 run to distance themselves from the Lady Chicks.

Blytheville trailed, 39-25 by the end of the third period and never got the lead under double digits in the final period as Tech ran away with the victory.

Dejah Prude led the Lady Chicks with 14 points, Ivory Guyton scored eight, Keyanna Wiley chipped in four and Timara Rogers, Jabreuna Brimlett and Lakeshia Robinson each scored two points a piece for the Lady Chicks.

Blytheville drops to 9-17 overall and 3-10 in the 5A-East.

They wrap up the season Thursday night at Batesville.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com @CN_AaronF