Eagles escape Boyd with win

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Boyd’s Kenneth King (33) eyes the basket while being defended by Van Buren County’s Bryce Shockley during Monday’s District 8-A contest at Boyd. The Broncos led through the first three quarters, but fell behind in the game’s final period.

With a District 8-A win on the line Monday night, the Boyd Broncos brought their “A” game for the first three quarters against visiting Van Buren County. But a late rally in the fourth period put the Eagles on top to pick up the 66-59 win.

In the first period Boyd did everything it had to do in order to shut down the bigger team from Spencer. Overall team speed and the ability to block out on the boards helped Boyd to a 17-11 lead by the end of the first period.

Boyd started the second period just like the first, with aggressive play on offense and quickness on defense. Kenneth King, along with Sam and Jay Medley, helped give Boyd a 30-15 lead with just three minutes left in the half. Van Buren’s Daniel Perkins stepped up and hit for 10 points with 1:38 left in the half, with nine of those coming from 3-point range to close the gap by intermission to 34-28.

The Eagles came out in a full-court press to open the second half, with hopes of slowing down the racing Broncos. Van Buren hit the first eight points of the third period and took the lead at 37-34 with 5:03 left on the clock. Boyd came charging back with Clint Patterson and Sam Medley to tie the game at 41-41. Jay Medley gave Boyd back the lead hitting from behind the arc with two minutes left n the period. The Broncos closed out the third quarter hitting the their last three shots to take a 49-43 lead into the final period.

Boyd opened up a 54-45 lead at the 5:12 mark of the fourth, but Perkins would once again answer the call for the Eagles as he pulled them with in three points at 56-53 with four minutes left to play. The Broncos turned the ball over several times with just under three minutes left in the game and Van Buren took advantage of the miscues taking the lead 61-59 at the 1:25 mark. Boyd had to foul in order to keep the game within reach, but waited too long as the clock ran down with 31 seconds left in the game. Van Buren added five points from the line to escape with the seven-point win.

Leading the way for Boyd was Jay Medley with 20 points. King and Patterson had 11 each, Sam Medley hit for nine, Casey Hertwig scored six and Dustin Curtis added two points. The Broncos were 17-of-24 from the foul line.

Perkins led Van Buren with 25 points. Bryce Shockley and Allen Rigsby had 12 points each. Cody Mills hit for eight, Chase McCoy had four, Dustin Plemons and Cole Delong had two each and Coty Simmons added one point. The Eagles hit for 10 of their 18 free-throw attempts.

Boyd returns to action Friday night on the road against Station Camp.