The seniors lined up for flowers and photographs during Bradwell's basketball homecoming game Friday night. But the sparks and fireworks came on the court in a climatic men's game and one-point, at-the-buzzer victory over Windsor Forest (60-59).
Those final points came from free throws by Jordan Johnson and Jarvis Wadsworth.
In the other game, the ladies kept their claws on a tie for first place by jousting the Lady Knights of Windsor Forest (54-36).
Tigers 60, Knights 59
With the Knights and the Tigers battling basket-for-basket the game stayed tight and within reach throughout the first half. The Knights dictated the tempo for most of the game until the third quarter when DeAndre Ross was brought in off the bench and set the Tiger defense on fire, increasing the intensity and snapping his teammates into full throttle.
The Knights had a five-point lead with only four minutes left in the game (45-50) and then made a nine-point run. But the Tigers had a 10-point run and a free throw from Wadsworth to come within three points (56-59). Johnson drew a foul with 18 seconds left and was three for three, tying the score (59-59).
When the Knights got the ball back into play Wadsworth got a steal and drew another foul with 5 seconds on the clock but he also injured his hand. He missed the first shot but made the second for the one point lead.
When the clock started again the ball ended in the hands of Jordan Johnson who ran for the last 2 seconds around the court, knowing the victory ball was in his hands at the sound of the buzzer.
"It always feels good to get a win, a close game, especially a big region win," Tiger coach Pete Woodard said. "With a loss we could have fallen down in our ranking. Right now we are coasting and our players need to get that killer instinct back. Get back that eye of the Tiger, as they say."
Woodard said he kept telling his players that allowing a team to stay ahead or within a few points meant that anything could happen at the end.
"I told them if you are going to take them out then you need to go ahead and get on, but somehow it just was not developing until that last 50 seconds," he said. "I think they had a reality check in those 50 seconds. They realized, hey these boys are about to beat us."
Woodard said Ross played great defense. Ross was brought in from the bench to assist in the last two games as Brandon Hayes, the Tigers usual top scorer, had to miss because of a technical penalty earlier this season.
"Ross played some great defense and he did a beautiful job for us," Woodard said. "He is going to commit some errors, but he is also going to give you something. His teammates believe in him and he is one of our best defensive players.
"We did miss Brandon. Naturally a guy that gives you 16-17 points a game is going to be missed and he is not a bad defensive player, but more than anything we miss having the depth on our bench. We had to play more guys that were not used to playing that many minutes. They are used to playing, but not for that length of time because the depth is not there and fatigue comes quicker."
Hayes is expected back in time for Tuesday away game at Beach High.
Lady Tigers 54, Lady Knights 36
The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early lead, hitting 13 to the Lady Knights 6 points by the end of the first quarter. Not giving the Lady Knights a chance to sharpen the jousting poles the Tigers kept scratching away at the boards and took a 40-26 lead to end the half. The Lady Tigers then held the Lady Knights to 10-points for the rest of the game while they added 14 points.
Unlike the past four regional games against Beach, Groves, Camden and Jenkins the Ladies opened up with a lead and did not allow their opponent an opportunity to get back in the game. The turnover ratio was the difference. Unlike the past games when turnovers numbered 20-30 the Lady Tigers took better care of the ball.
"I'm proud of that," Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said. "Seventeen turnovers looked like a beautiful number when compared to other games. We are trying to get it to 15 and below so we are almost there. I'm pleased we were able to lower it."
Baker said it was a good performance from her squad. She was happy they were able to provide a convincing win.
"Lately a lot of games we played were real close and a lot of that was due to turnovers and teams playing us better the second time around," she said. "I knew that if we took care of the ball better we would be able to extend our lead and we were able to do that against Windsor tonight."
The coach knows there are battles ahead as they travel to play Beach High School, a team that is currently tied with them for the top of the region, Tuesday night.
"It's going to be a battle," she said. "A war to see who stays number one. We are trying to get them ready for it."
Tip-off at Beach is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Those final points came from free throws by Jordan Johnson and Jarvis Wadsworth.
In the other game, the ladies kept their claws on a tie for first place by jousting the Lady Knights of Windsor Forest (54-36).
Tigers 60, Knights 59
With the Knights and the Tigers battling basket-for-basket the game stayed tight and within reach throughout the first half. The Knights dictated the tempo for most of the game until the third quarter when DeAndre Ross was brought in off the bench and set the Tiger defense on fire, increasing the intensity and snapping his teammates into full throttle.
The Knights had a five-point lead with only four minutes left in the game (45-50) and then made a nine-point run. But the Tigers had a 10-point run and a free throw from Wadsworth to come within three points (56-59). Johnson drew a foul with 18 seconds left and was three for three, tying the score (59-59).
When the Knights got the ball back into play Wadsworth got a steal and drew another foul with 5 seconds on the clock but he also injured his hand. He missed the first shot but made the second for the one point lead.
When the clock started again the ball ended in the hands of Jordan Johnson who ran for the last 2 seconds around the court, knowing the victory ball was in his hands at the sound of the buzzer.
"It always feels good to get a win, a close game, especially a big region win," Tiger coach Pete Woodard said. "With a loss we could have fallen down in our ranking. Right now we are coasting and our players need to get that killer instinct back. Get back that eye of the Tiger, as they say."
Woodard said he kept telling his players that allowing a team to stay ahead or within a few points meant that anything could happen at the end.
"I told them if you are going to take them out then you need to go ahead and get on, but somehow it just was not developing until that last 50 seconds," he said. "I think they had a reality check in those 50 seconds. They realized, hey these boys are about to beat us."
Woodard said Ross played great defense. Ross was brought in from the bench to assist in the last two games as Brandon Hayes, the Tigers usual top scorer, had to miss because of a technical penalty earlier this season.
"Ross played some great defense and he did a beautiful job for us," Woodard said. "He is going to commit some errors, but he is also going to give you something. His teammates believe in him and he is one of our best defensive players.
"We did miss Brandon. Naturally a guy that gives you 16-17 points a game is going to be missed and he is not a bad defensive player, but more than anything we miss having the depth on our bench. We had to play more guys that were not used to playing that many minutes. They are used to playing, but not for that length of time because the depth is not there and fatigue comes quicker."
Hayes is expected back in time for Tuesday away game at Beach High.
Lady Tigers 54, Lady Knights 36
The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early lead, hitting 13 to the Lady Knights 6 points by the end of the first quarter. Not giving the Lady Knights a chance to sharpen the jousting poles the Tigers kept scratching away at the boards and took a 40-26 lead to end the half. The Lady Tigers then held the Lady Knights to 10-points for the rest of the game while they added 14 points.
Unlike the past four regional games against Beach, Groves, Camden and Jenkins the Ladies opened up with a lead and did not allow their opponent an opportunity to get back in the game. The turnover ratio was the difference. Unlike the past games when turnovers numbered 20-30 the Lady Tigers took better care of the ball.
"I'm proud of that," Lady Tiger coach Faye Baker said. "Seventeen turnovers looked like a beautiful number when compared to other games. We are trying to get it to 15 and below so we are almost there. I'm pleased we were able to lower it."
Baker said it was a good performance from her squad. She was happy they were able to provide a convincing win.
"Lately a lot of games we played were real close and a lot of that was due to turnovers and teams playing us better the second time around," she said. "I knew that if we took care of the ball better we would be able to extend our lead and we were able to do that against Windsor tonight."
The coach knows there are battles ahead as they travel to play Beach High School, a team that is currently tied with them for the top of the region, Tuesday night.
"It's going to be a battle," she said. "A war to see who stays number one. We are trying to get them ready for it."
Tip-off at Beach is scheduled for 6 p.m.