Bulldogs power past Trojans with late scoring surge

Bulldogs power past Trojans with late scoring surge

Earle boys win to close out conference play

news@theeveningtimes.com

Earle had to play from behind most of the game, but powered its way past Lee using a strong fourth quarter to defeat the Trojans 7559 on Saturday at home in the final conference game of the season.

Earle (15-9, 11-2) found themselves trailing 1720 at the end of the first, then tied 31 all and 48 all to start the fourth, before racking up 27 points in the final period for the win.

Coach Carl Miller said he expected a tough matchup heading in, but wanted to make sure his seniors got to play on senior day before going back to his normal rotation.

“It was the last game of the season. They’re in the conference with us. So I knew they would come here to play,” Miller said.

Despite having to play from behind, Miller said he stayed true to his game plan until halftime.

“I played the seniors most of the first half,” Miller said. “It was their last game so I wanted them to get out there and play. I told them I was going to hold to that.

“But I told them at halftime that now that they had their time in, I was going with the rotation.”

The Bulldogs traded leads with Lee through most of the third. Jermayne Johnson tied it at 39 with 4:08 to play then fell behind 4239 until Riley Davis dunk a three with 3:34 left in the third.

Earle fell behind again 46-48 but was bailed out by a bucket at the buzzer by Darius Cisero to tie it at 48 to end the third.

“I told them to keep it close and to stop trying to hit jump shots,” Miller said.

The Bulldogs then went on a six-point run to start the fourth to go up 54-48 with 5:23 to play. Cisero connected again on a three to make it 57-48 with 4:28 remaining, then went up 62-50 with 3:12 to play.

The Trojans got into foul trouble late in the fourth and allowed Earle to go up 72-55 with 1:06 left following a pair of freethrows by Davis.

Cisero sealed the 16 point win with three free throws with :26 seconds left to play to make it 75-59.

Cisero had a team high 20 points on the night and Kevon Smith pumped in 15.

“Those two seniors stood out,” Miller said.

Ninth grader Davis added 10 on the night, and Johnson pumped in nine.

“I should have played them more,” Miller said.

“But I held to my seniors.”

Earle will face off against Barton on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m in Marked Tree.

Miller said he was pleased to end on a winning note.

“I feel pretty good about our chances going in,” Miller said. “There are some things that we have been practicing that I didn’t run tonight because the coaches were in the stands watching. I told them we are going to stick with our base defense. So I’m pleased. They played well in the second half and I think they showed up tonight.”

By Mark Randall