BIC falls short to Sloan-Hendrix in district play

Trey DePriest's potential game winning three-pointer bounced off the rim as BIC (10-17) fell 62-60 to Sloan-Hendrix in the third-place game of the 2A-2 district tournament this past Saturday at Cotter. The Mustangs will meet Earle in the opening round of the 2A North Regional Tournament on Wednesday night at 8:30 in Carlisle.

Miles Gifford got BIC on the board first with a three-pointer as the Greyhounds answered with a three-pointer to make it 3-3. Andrew McFarlin stuck back an offensive rebound for the Mustangs as Sloan-Hendrix hit one of two free throws making it 5-4 BIC. DePriest converted an old-school three-points for BIC as Gifford canned another three-ball before Canon Walling hit two free throws to give the Mustangs a 13-4 lead with 4:49 left.

BIC's Andrew McFarlin scores a basket against Sloan-Hendrix in 2A-2 District Tournament action this past Saturday in Cotter. (Town Crier photo/Anthony Cossey)

Sloan-Hendrix hit a jumper in the lane, BIC got a jumper from Gifford, the Greyhounds hit another jumper in the lane as Walling had a steal and hit a jumper for BIC to make the score 17-8 Mustangs. Sloan-Hendrix put back an offensive rebound as Blaine Wildy drilled a three-pointer for BIC with six seconds left to make it 20-10 Mustangs at the end of one.

Sloan-Hendrix scored the first seven points of the second quarter to cut the BIC lead to 20-17 before Cory Turner got a stick back basket for the Mustangs to make it 22-17. Sloan-Hendrix hit a three-ball, BIC got one of two free throws from Turner only to see the Greyhounds score seven straight points to take a 27-23 lead with 2:09 left. Chayse Carmichael hit two free throws for the Mustangs as Walling canned a three-ball for BIC to make it 28-27 Mustangs. Sloan-Hendrix scored a basket late to take a 29-28 into halftime.

A three-pointer by the Greyhounds to start the third quarter made it 32-28 as BIC got a three-pointer from Walling, two free throws from McFarlin and a three-ball from DePriest to make the score 36-32 Mustangs with 4:01 left. Sloan-Hendrix got a three-pointer with 3:40 left making it 36-35 BIC as neither team scored the remainder of the quarter.

The teams traded scores for the first minute and a half of the fourth quarter as Sloan-Hendrix got a stick back, Wildy hit a jumper for BIC, the Greyhounds canned a trey, Walling hit two free throws for Mustangs, Sloan-Hendrix hit one of two free throws before DePriest drilled a three-pointer for BIC to make the score 43-41 Mustangs with 5:30 left in the game.

Sloan-Hendrix hit a three-pointer and got a goal-tending call on BIC to take a 46-43 lead. DePriest scored inside for BIC, Sloan-Hendrix netted a three-pointer, McFarlin drained a three-ball for the Mustangs as the Greyhounds converted a conventional three-point play to make the score 52-48 Sloan-Hendrix. McFarlin hit one of two free throws for BIC, Sloan-Hendrix scored inside, McFarlin hit one of two free throws again for Mustangs as the Greyhounds hit two free throws to make it 56-50 Sloan-Hendrix. The Mustangs got a basket down low from McFarlin, the Greyhounds netted two free throws, McFarlin added two free throws for BIC as Sloan-Hendrix hit two free throws to keep their lead at 60-54. McFarlin got inside for a BIC score as DePriest went coast to coast for a lay-up as the Mustangs cut the lead to 60-58 with 20 seconds left. Sloan-Hendrix hit one of two free throws, McFarlin hit two free throws for BIC, Sloan-Hendrix hit one of two free throws making it 62-60 before DePriest's last second shot.

"I thought the guys played a great game against a good team," BIC head coach Mike Scutero said after the game. "We missed some free throws that you can't do against a good team. We'll go and get ready for the regional tournament."

McFarlin led BIC in scoring with 17 points as DePriest and Walling added 13 and 12 points respectively. Gifford tossed in eight points, Wildy finished with five points, Turner had three points as Carmichael chipped in two points for the Mustangs.

BIC lost 67-49 to EPC in the semi-finals this past Thursday. DePriest lead BIC with 18 points at Gifford finished with 16 points. Turner netted six points as JG Edwards and Wildy both added three points. Walling netted two points as Kaleb Dublin scored one point.