Broncos still perfect after tourney win

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Boyd’s Grayson Woods eyes the basket while being defended by Homestead’s Tim Rosser (21) during Friday’s game. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

Looking for someone to challenge their perfect season, the Boyd fifth- and sixth-grade boys basketball team took on Homestead out of Crossville Friday night in the Eastside 7-Up Invitational Tournament.

Sixteen first half turnovers looked to spell doom for the Broncos. But Boyd rallied in the second half to keep its undefeated record intact with a 35-33 win to improve to 11-0 on the season.

Boyd had a hard time of holding on to the ball in the first period and Homestead took advantage of it. The Bulldogs put five points on the board before Grayson Woods got Boyd on the board. By the end of the first quarter Homestead held a 9-4 lead.

Boyd continued to have problems with the Bulldogs trapping back-court pressure. Jonathan Masters was the go to guy for the Bulldogs as the point guard hit for eight of Homesteads 10 points in the period. But Boyd had the answer with J.T. Morgan as he hit for eight of the Broncos 10 points in the period as the half ended with Boyd trailing by five at 19-14.

The Bulldogs opened the third period with six unanswered points. Morgan hit from the paint at the 3:26 mark for the Broncos to start a 12 point run with Woods pulling Boyd within one with :50 left on the clock. Boyd worked the ball down to Morgan with two seconds left in the period as he hit at the buzzer to put the Broncos on top 28-27.

The final period was determined from the free-throw line as both teams were in the bonus. All but two of Boyd’s seven points in the period came from the charity stripe as the Bulldogs hit a horrifying 2-of-14. With 9.7 second left in the game and up by one, Nick Tilton stepped to the line and hit one-of-two to give Boyd a two point lead and the win to send them to the finals against the Eastside Bulldogs.

For the Broncos Morgan led all scorers with 18 points on the night. Woods had six, Logan Walker hit for five, Logan McCormick and Kaleb Tilton had two points each, and Nick Tilton added one point.

Jonathan Presley had 13 and Jonathan Masters had eight points to lead the Bulldogs.