A last-second 3-pointer that could have forced overtime bounced out at the buzzer to cap off a thrilling opening to high school basketball season in Pine Bluff.
The Pine Bluff boys team defeated crosstown rival Watson Chapel 58-55 on Tuesday at the Jack Robey campus.
Pine Bluff Coach Billy Dixon said the Zebras played well at times but must keep improving.
“I’m trying to make our guys adjust and learn basketball,” Dixon said. “That’s really what it’s about. First game of the year, we played in spurts to a level I thought we were capable of, but the consistency, protecting the basketball, simple put-back shots, those were things that made a difference.”
Watson Chapel sophomore Randolph Redix hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the game to cut the Pine Bluff lead to 57-55. After a timeout, the Wildcats fouled Pine Bluff junior Ja’Kobe Johnson with 3.9 seconds remaining.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Johnson split a pair of free throws, giving the Wildcats (1-0) one last chance. Redix got a good look from the top of the arc, but the shot wouldn’t go as the Zebras (1-0) survived.
Redix scored a game-high 20 points after making four 3-pointers in his first varsity game. Watson Chapel Coach Jevon Barnes said Redix is going to be a great player.
“I’m just now working on his mental to slow his mind down,” Barnes said. “Sometimes, he lets the defense speed him up, and he doesn’t slow his mind down. He shot the ball well tonight, but once he can slow his mind down, get everybody else involved so we can run our stuff, and add that to what he did tonight, that’s going to help us out tremendously.”
Pine Bluff junior Quentin Adams led the Zebras with 19 points, while sophomore Braylon Turner followed with 13.
Watson Chapel led 7-4 in the first quarter after a 5-0 run, causing Dixon to call a timeout with 2:46 left in the quarter. After the break, the Zebras finished the first quarter and started the second on a 12-0 run to take the lead. Pine Bluff led the rest of the game.
Watson Chapel didn’t score in the final 3 minutes of the first quarter and didn’t score again until after taking a timeout with 5:43 to go in the second.
Dixon said the timeout was to settle his players down.
“It’s a packed house, first game, and these guys want to show what they feel that they are capable of,” Dixon said. “We were just out of sync. We were causing all of what was not happening. It was on us. I just called timeout and asked them to settle down and just relax. Understand your role and do your job, and when they do, things flowed.”
The Zebras led 25-23 at halftime and started to pull away in the third quarter, leading by as much as 40-27 before Watson Chapel answered with a 7-0 run. The Zebras led by as much as 53-41 early in the fourth, but the Wildcats quickly got it back within single digits.
Adams made it 56-50 with the first dunk of the season, but a shot by Watson Chapel junior Braelyn Hughes and Redix’s final 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a chance in the final seconds.
Barnes said his young players showed him they don’t quit.
“The biggest thing is, we have to do the small things to where we don’t be in those positions,” Barnes said. “Once they learn that, like blocking out, because we’re very little, 50-50 balls, taking charges. The things that really don’t go in the stat book is really what’s going to help this team out a lot. We ended up getting chances to make key shots when we really needed to stop the bleeding.”
GIRLS
The Pine Bluff girls made the first shot from the field but led only briefly in a 48-11 loss to Watson Chapel.
Pine Bluff (0-1) led 2-1 after an early shot by junior Andriyah Beverly, but Lady Wildcat sophomore Mariah Cline made a 3-pointer on the other end to give her team the lead for good.
Beverly’s shot started an 11-0 Watson Chapel run, and the Lady Wildcats (1-0) went on to lead 21-6 after the first. Pine Bluff scored the first points of each subsequent quarter but never threatened the Watson Chapel lead again. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Cline led Watson Chapel with 11 points, followed by senior Jada Briggs with 9. Six other Lady Wildcats scored.
Beverly and senior Adrianna McAfee each scored 5 points for Pine Bluff.
