With a series of thunderous dunks, the Bradwell Institute Tigers punctuated a dominating effort in the Region 1-AAAAA boys basketball championship game Saturday evening.

The Tigers hammered the Evans Knights 65-36, taking the program’s second region title in three years and setting another first – it is the first time Bradwell has held the boys and girls region basketball titles since 1959.

The girls team captured their second straight title Friday night at Evans against Brunswick.

Saturday, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and were never threatened. Keon Grant’s 3-pointer, after the Tigers grabbed three offensive rebounds on the same possession, capped an 11-3 run to end the first quarter and stake Bradwell to a commanding 22-9 lead.

Chris Perry’s windmill jam off Elijuwon Hale’s feed pushed the advantage to 32-13 and prompted a Knights timeout. Antonio Haynes’ steal and layup just before the end of the first half sealed a 12-0 spurt over the final 4:15.

The second half opened with an 8-0 Tigers run with dunks from Jaylin Sweat, Perry and Zi’on Thomas’ hammering jam off another Hale feed for a 52-19 lead.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 19-5 on the year and will open the Class AAAAA state tournament with a No. 1 seed.

For more, see the February 19 edition of the Courier.