Jackson Christian boys get OT win over Riverside
Jackson Christian School trailed Riverside for almost all of regulation, but a 3-pointer by Colton Butler with 12 seconds left on the clock tied the game at 55-55, forcing overtime.
The Eagles used the momentum into the overtime period with some timely buckets and free throws to pick up the District 15-A victory, 65-63.
“That was a huge 3-pointer by Colton,” Jackson Christian coach J.D. Byrd said. “Colton isn’t really a 3-point shooter, but it is something that he has continued to work on. That was a big shot for his confidence and a big shot for the team.”
Riverside jumped out to an early 8-0 lead to start the game. Jackson Christian hit their first points with 3:13 left in the opening quarter as Riley Ragan knocked down a 3-pointer. The Panthers led at the end of the opening period by the score of 12-7.
Riverside sustained that lead throughout the second quarter despite its star player, Daryl McElrath, being forced to the bench with foul trouble. Riverside outscored the Eagles by one in the quarter, taking a 31-25 lead into the half.
“I felt like we came out in the first half really flat,” Byrd said. “We had a plan to stop McElrath, and we did for the most part, but they had several players step up and knock down some big 3-pointers. Riverside did a good job of making some shots in that first half.”
The momentum picked up in the third quarter as both teams picked up the defensive pressure, Jackson Christian with a full-court press and Riverside with a half-court man-to-man defense. The Eagles cut the Riverside lead down to two in the quarter on back-to-back 3s by Ragan, but Riverside held onto a five-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
Jackson Christian cut the lead down to one early in the fourth quarter as Logan Riddle and Gunnar Lewis scored on consecutive lay-ups. After a Riverside timeout, Kyle Roach answered for the Panther’s with a lay-up of his own to push the lead back out.
The Eagles made a furious comeback in the final minutes of regular play as Ragan came up with another big 3-pointer to cut the lead back down to 3. Moments later, Butler hit the game-tying shot to force overtime.
“I felt like once we got to overtime, we had the momentum on our side,” Byrd said. “Our players on the floor were juiced, and our bench players were juiced. We could feel it on our side.”
The Eagles came out and executed in overtime to pull out the two-point victory.
“We did a great job of executing in overtime,” Byrd said. “We did a good job of getting the shots that we wanted.”
The Eagles will face Adamsville on Friday in another district match-up.
“We have felt the momentum on our side since the fourth quarter of the Crockett County game,” Byrd said. “We lost that game, but we played a great fourth quarter. This comeback tonight gives us some more momentum. It is our goal to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.
“The sky is the limit for this team.”