Chicks drop nail-biter to rival Osceola

The Blytheville Chickasaws (4-4) lost a hard-fought game Tuesday against a Mississippi County rival, the Osceola Seminoles (4-3), 73-72, at Chickasaw Gym.

The Chickasaws jumped out to an 8-3 lead over the Seminoles, but the ‘Noles climbed back to tie the game at 11 midway through the first quarter.

Chickasaw senior guard Tony Newmy excited the crowd after a big crossover and bulling his way through the lane for a layup. Newmy was fouled but missed the and-one opportunity. The ball traveled out of bounds and the Chicks retained possession. Newmy was found in the corner where he buried a three-pointer with 1:30 left in the first. After Newmy’s three, BHS defense held Osceola and junior forward Winston Peace’s layup dropped to put the Chickasaws Gymnasium into a frenzy and forced the Osceola bench to call a timeout.

The Chicks led 20-15 with 58.3 seconds left in the first ,however Osceola’s Dante Adams drained a long Seminole three at the buzzer to cut it to 20-18. The ‘Noles tied the game at 31 with two minutes to go in the half.

Osceola’s Detonio Hawkins threw an ally to Adams, who slammed it home. On the next play a Chickasaws turnover led to another Adams slam that forced a timeout by Chickasaws head coach McKenzie Pierce. Peace would tie the game at 35 with 30 seconds left, which was the score at the half. Adams attempted another deep three to tie the game at 49 to end the third but the ball was way short.

To start the fourth quarter the ‘Noles and Chicks traded several shots. Osceola took a 55-54 lead and Pierce called for a timeout with 6:15 left in the game.

BHS led 67-62 with 3:01 left in the game, however a Makai Caruthers deep three-point basket cut the Chicks lead to two-points.

Chickasaws Michael Caruthers hit one-of-two from the line with 2:15 left in the game to give the Chicks a four-point lead. Back-to-back layups by the ‘Noles trimmed the Chicks’ lead to 70-69. With 48.3 left Adams hit two-of- two from the charity stripe giving the ‘Noles a one-point lead.

Chicks senior center Jaurous Haynes was fouled and connected on both attempts to give the Chicks back the lead with 33.8 seconds left.

OHS took back-to-back timeouts and took 10 seconds off the clock before knocking down the go-ahead basket. The Chicks had several opportunities but nothing fell as time expired and the ‘Noles stormed the court. Newmy led the Chicks with 19 points, Peace chipped in 14 points and Caruthers and Haynes had 11 apiece. Osceola’s leading scorer was Adams with a game-high 24 points.