Roy’s late shot lifts Zebras past Wildcats

In the final seconds of Saturday’s crosstown rivalry game, Pine Bluff junior Quintin Roy sent the visiting fans into a frenzy after taking a pass from senior Deriyon Graydon and scoring the game-winning layup.

Roy’s shot lifted Pine Bluff to a 49-48 win against Watson Chapel at Leslie Byrd Henderson Gymnasium.

Roy said if felt good to have his team’s trust in the final seconds.

“[Graydon] drove down, and I guess he believed in me,” Roy said. “He passed it to me. I thought about dunking it, but I wanted to take the easy way out, so I just laid the ball up.”

The go-ahead bucket came with six seconds to play. Watson Chapel (3-9) called a timeout and got a short-range floater off, but the ball hit off the backboard. Roy brought down the final rebound to seal the thrilling win for the Zebras.

Pine Bluff coach Billy Dixon said Roy’s heroics came from hard work.

“I told Quintin just a moment ago, the key is that you never quit,” Dixon said. “You never give up, and if you keep working hard enough, something good will happen. He had a couple of possessions where some things happened. Guy went right past him, shot a layup. … Pulled him over and had a conversation with him. I said, ‘The key is, keep playing. If you keep playing hard, something good will happen.’ For him, a lot of good things happened.”

Pine Bluff (3-10) led 40-29 early in the fourth quarter, when it didn’t seem those kinds of heroics would be needed. The Wildcats fought back on their home court with a 14-2 run to take their first lead since early in the third quarter.

Most of that run came at the free throw line as Watson Chapel got Pine Bluff into foul trouble. Four Zebras fouled out in the fourth quarter. Wildcat senior Joseph Dockett gave his team the lead with his sixth made free throw of the fourth quarter.

The teams traded the lead five more times afterward. Watson Chapel senior Javaen Williams gave the Wildcats a 48-47 lead with 27.8 seconds remaining. The Wildcats forced a turnover and earned another trip to the line but missed both shots with 16.9 seconds to play, leaving Roy and the Zebras a chance to win at the end.

This win came less than 24 hours after Pine Bluff lost a lead in the fourth quarter in a conference loss to El Dorado. Dixon said it was huge for his players to bounce back from the El Dorado loss and not let Saturday’s game be a repeat.

“I hope it does a lot for the guys, the explosion on the sideline,” Dixon said. “At a normal time that we would be like, ‘OK, this wasn’t supposed to happen.’ But right now, we’re appreciative for any win that we can get. …For us to be in this position after being here (Friday) night and finding a way to win was so important for our program right now.”

Pine Bluff senior Christopher Hinton Jr. led the Zebras with 15 points. Graydon followed with 12, and sophomore Quentin Adams had 11.

Dockett led Watson Chapel with 18 points, while senior Jabaree Smith scored 13.

GIRLS: Watson Chapel 61, Pine Bluff 13

The Watson Chapel girls played dominate defense in the second half to beat rival Pine Bluff 61-13.

Pine Bluff (0-11) scored 1 point in the second half, a free throw by junior Mariyah Savage with 7:06 to play.

Watson Chapel (9-3) outscored the Fillies 17-0 in the third quarter, triggering a running clock in the fourth.

Lady Wildcats coach Lenell Brown said he told his team at halftime he wanted to see them not just win, but dominate.

“I like to send a message, not to the team that we’re playing, but to other teams in the conference,” Brown said. “I like to set the tone early, and I want people to look at us, like, ‘OK, Watson Chapel’s not to be played with. They come out, and they gonna punch you in the mouth, and they gonna keep going.’ That’s who we are, and that’s what we like to do.”

Both teams struggled from the field in the first few minutes. Watson Chapel led 3-1 with 5:28 to go in the first, with every point coming from the line. Watson Chapel junior Alexiah Anderson finally broke through with a 3-pointer, then Pine Bluff junior Adrianna McAfee followed with a 2-point bucket.

The Fillies kept it as close as 13-7 in the final minutes of the first before Watson Chapel junior Maranda Emerson hit a 3-pointer. Watson Chapel went on to lead 35-12 at halftime before dominating the second half.

Emerson scored a game-high 17 points, followed by Watson Chapel junior Jayla Rodgers with 16. Pine Bluff sophomore Andriyah Beverly led the Fillies with 4 points.