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.
“We talk about putting four strong quarters together,” Tigers coach Ty Randolph said. “I think the kids realized what we had at stake. Again, it’s a long, hard road, and this is a sweet way to end this first round for us.”
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.
The Tigers had more dunks (five) than they had made free throws (three). Bradwell also forced 24 turnovers and held the Knights to 28% shooting from the floor.
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. It is also their second region title in three seasons.
“It’s a testament to hard work and we believe in our faith – hard work pays off,” Tigers coach Ty Randolph said.
His team’s depth and their unselfish play have impressed their coach. Thirteen players played, 11 scored and only finished in double figures as Thomas had 14 points.
“If you like each other, you’ll win some games, and we’ve won some games. When you love each other, you’ll hoist trophies and championships,” Randolph said. “It’s personal for a lot of these guys because a lot of them have worked so hard to get to that championship level and they understand the standard of Bradwell basketball.”
Perry and Fortune Hicks each scored nine points and Sweat finished with eight points.
Randolph said he wants to see his team get better defensively between the end of the region tournament and the start of the state playoffs.
“This team is still jelling and peaking for the most part,” he said. We have to keep getting better.”
The Tigers earned a spot in the region title game with a 54-44 win over Brunswick in Thursday's semifinals.
Sweat led the way with 17 points while Perry added 11. Keon Grant scored eight and Thomas chipped in seven. Sweat registered a double-double with 12 rebounds, and Thomas also had 12 boards. Hale recorded six assists.
The Tigers, between their region championship game and the start of the state tournament, are in the middle of an 11-day break.
“We’ll go back to training camp,” Randolph said. “We’ll go back to work like normal. Nothing changes for us.”
