With the holiday break near, the West Columbia Roughnecks looked to give a present of coal to the Wharton Runnin’ Tigers in Wharton Friday night. Trailing by nine points in the second half, the Tigers defense stepped up allowing Wharton to pick up the 58-57 win and send the crowd home with cheer.
“We got guys that want to win and want to compete. But we’ve still got to get used to the battle moments and be war-tested. You’re playing somebody and they’re going to give you a lot of resistance. We got to adjust a little faster,†Runnin’ Tiger coach Xavier Jackson said.
Roughneck one-armed senior guard Kaison Lewis did his best to hand Wharton a second district loss, lighting up the gym for a game-high 21 points, and draining five threes. The Tigers late in the game, started to pressure and frustrate West Columbia getting the turnovers needed to get back into the game and eventually overtake the Roughnecks.
Early in the fourth quarter, Lewis had an acrobatic layup between two Runnin’ Tigers to push their lead to 46-35, forcing a Wharton timeout.
“I let them know that we’re getting deflections but we’re not getting the ball. We’re blocked shots but we’re not getting rebounds and that’s how they’re scoring and we’re giving them what they need to feel like that they can beat us, even though that we’re playing harder,†Jackson said.
After the timeout, Wharton’s defense started to pick up and force turnovers. Runnin’ Tiger senior Jacoryan Dickerson scored a layup and junior Brandon Sims followed with a steal. Sims was fouled on his layup attempt splitting his free throws. Wharton forced another turnover and Sims made them pay, connecting on a short jumper to quickly pull within four points.
While Wharton kept getting closer, West Columbia still had the edge with just over two leading 49-46.
Wharton forced three empty Roughneck offensive trips in a row, but they themselves missed their opportunities to pull closer, with West Columbia eventually getting a layup to go ahead 51-46.
Looking like it might not be their night, Runnin’ Tiger junior J’Dynn Lewis connected on a three to keep them in the game. Lewis followed with a layup on a pass from Dickerson after a West Columbia miss to tie the game. Runnin’ Tiger senior Keilon Jackson stole the Roughnecks in-bounds attempt and got a layup to pull Wharton back in front by two points with just over a minute left to play.
“We were really fighting hard and pressing like we’re supposed and making the baskets we’re supposed to,†Keilon said.
West Columbia came back down the court and had to looks near the rim, but Wharton’s defense forced missed shots and eventually came away with the ball. Dickerson near the rim scored on a tough layup to push Wharton to a 55-51 lead with 30 seconds left.
Wharton went 4-8 on free throws in the fourth quarter, allowing West Columbia chances to pull closer but the Runnin’ Tigers lead was too much to overcome. Wharton led 58-54 with seconds left, with Lewis making three with no time left.
The win for the Runnin’ Tigers is their first in district play and their 14th overall this season (14-5, 1-1). Keilon felt like the buy-in from the team has been a big factor in their hot start to the year.
“The first year [coach] came we weren’t really bought in, but we understand him more [now]. We hustle more in practice and everything like that now.†Keilon said.
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