A 12-point lead. A 5-point deficit. A sportsmanship rule victory. A 28-point night by freshman Drake Brackney. All in the same game.
In the end it was a 79-46 Booneville Bearcat win over Cossatot River in a game between the 8- and 9-seeds of the 3A-4 District Tournament in Charleston.
With 1:19 to play in the first half the Bearcats took a 33-21 lead over the Eagles. But, the Hayden Daniel basket that made it a 12-point lead would be the final Bearcat points until the 3:57 mark of the third quarter.
By then, the Eagles had scored 14 unanswered to take a 35-33 lead. Cossatot went back in front after Reed Brackney tied it – the fourth of five ties in the game – and would ultimately open a 42-37 lead with 3:28 to go in the quarter.
Cossatot scored only four points the rest of the night while the Bearcats would score 42 over the final 11 and a half game minutes and won convincingly.
It was Tayden Washburn’s first points of the night that cut it to 42-39 and a 3 by Nick Widener that tied it.
Both of those baskets came on assists from Drake Brackney (shown in last Friday's game). The freshman had 6 assists to go with 9 rebounds and 28 points.
After another Washburn basket, Drake Brackney would assist Cooper Smithson on a 3 with 1:06 to play then steal the inbound pass and score again four seconds later and the lead was suddenly 49-42.
Both Brackneys scored before the quarter ended and it was 53-42.
Drake Brackney added a pair of free throws and another basket with 6:47 to play and the run was 20-0 to a lead of 57-42.
A Widener assist on a basket by Dakota Fonseca made it 61-44 and would be the first of four assists by Widener in the quarter and it was 70-46 with 3:05 to play.
A 3 by Daniel ballooned the lead to the sportsmanship level of 30 and Sonny Whitaker hit one in the final minute to make it 79-46 and a run of 42-4 since the Eagles led by 42-37.
Reed Brackney was the only other Bearcat in double figures with 10 points. Both Widener and Fonseca had 9. Reed Brackney also had 7 rebounds, a department dominated by Washburn with 13.
Cossatot River 39 Lady Bearcats 38
With 6:23 to go in the third quarter a pair of Tempi Terry free throws gave the Lady Bearcats a 23-17 lead in the 6- v 7-seed game of the district tournament. Terry had been responsible for 12 Lady Bearcat points to that juncture of the game.
Chloe Walker had scored 6 points in a 49-second just just before halftime giving the Lady Bearcats their first lead since it was 3-0 on an Anna Ferguson 3.
Cossatot scored the next 11 points and led the rest of the way before winning by a single point.
The Lady Bearcats got within 30-28 on a conventional 3-point play by freshman Alycin Pearcy, 32-31 on a 3 by Haylee Taylor, her first points of the night.
It was 36-34 after another Taylor 3, then 38-36 after single free throws from Taylor and Raelynn Franklin.
A single Lady Eagle free throw with 8.2 seconds to play would prove to be the difference when Terry scored before the game ended.
