With two of their first three meetings decided by fewer than six points, Rosspoint and Wallins have already turned in a couple of nail-bitters this season . The county’s top two teams added another game to the list Tuesday, as the Wildcats erased a two-point deficit with six points in the final minute to edge Wallins 43-41 for the county seventh- and eighth-grade title.
“It has been that way all year with Wallins. That made the fourth time we have played them. We have beat them three out of four, and every game except for one was like that. They are a heck of a team. We just got lucky a couple times,” said Rosspoint coach Hobert Boggs.
Treyce Spurlock had five of his team-high 13 points in the first quarter as the Purple Devils led for much of the period. A 3-pointer from Jared Sizmore with 19 seconds left briefly gave Rosspoint a 9-8 advantage, but Spurlock closed the period with a three-point play to put the Purple Devils back on top.
Rosspoint forward David Turner had seven points and four rebounds in the second quarter to put the Wildcats up by two at the half. A basket from Tommy North gave Wallins a four-point lead early in the period, but forward Kennon Napier had a pair of free throws and Turner followed with a basket underneath to tie it at 15. Rhett Alred scored on the next possession to give the lead back to the Purple Devils. However, Rosspoint closed the period on a 5-1 run to take the lead into the break.
Napier had all 10 Rosspoint points in the third quarter to keep his team in front by one. Napier finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead everyone in both categories. Turner added nine points and eight boards to round out an impressive performance in the paint.
“(Kennon’s) the man. That’s all you can say. When Kennon wants to he will get every ball that comes off the rim,” Boggs said. “David and Kennon are the men down there. They own it when they get the ball.”
The teams exchanged leads six times in a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
Two straight baskets by Alred put Wallins up 39-37 with 1:48 left in the final period. The lead was short-lived as Sizemore drained a trey with 53 seconds remaining to give the lead back to Rosspoint. North responded for the Purple Devils with a turnaround jumper to put Wallins back on top with 35 seconds left. Turner quickly answered with a basket off the glass on the ensuing possession. Drew Nolan pushed Rosspoint’s lead to two with a free throw with six seconds left. Wallins had one final chance, but Nolan stole the ball near mid-court to seal the win.
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Rosspoint (43) — Drew Nolan 3, Jared Sizemore 6, Tylor Scearse 2, David Turner 9, Kennon Napier 21, Christian Hall 2.
Wallins (41) — Treyce Spurlock 13, Brandon Osborne 1, William Bowling 8, Rhett Alred 8, Tommy North 7, Randall Meade 4, Noah Wood 0.
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