A big Bossier comeback fell just short as the No. 4 seed Bearkats fell to No. 1 Wossman 55-49 in the non-select Division II semifinals Tuesday night at the Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.
Bossier closed its season 22-10. The District 1-4A champion Bearkats played one of the state’s toughest schedules.
Wossman (24-7) will try to win its third straight state title Friday night against No. 3 Brusly, which defeated No. 2 Northwest 72-56 in the other semifinal.
Bossier, which had only one senior and was missing veteran forward TJ Bunnery (knee injury), trailed 17-4 late in the first quarter. But with 38 seconds left, the Bearkats trailed by just 50-49. But the Bearkats unable to score again and the Wildcats made five free throws to pull out the victory.
Bossier trailed 10-0 early and didn’t score until 5:43 remained in the first quarter. A 3-pointer gave Wossman the 17-4 lead late in the quarter.
But the Bearkats scored the final four points and continued to chip away at the lead in the second quarter.
By halftime, Wossman’s lead was just 28-21.
The Wildcats stayed ahead in the third quarter, but Bossier senior guard Braylon Robinson banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 43-40.
The Bearkats scored the only basket in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. They took the lead for the first time at 44-43 on Ethan Dodson’s baseline drive with 3:45 left.
The Wildcats tied it with a free throw. A turnover and missed 3-pointer led to four Wossman points and a 48-44 lead with 1:57 left.
Bossier cut the lead to two on a layup by Robinson but the Wildcats answered quickly and again led by four.
After a time out with 1:22 left, Bossier turned the ball over. Wossman missed two free throws. A Robinson free throw made it 50-47 with 44.8 seconds left.
DT Thomas then made a steal on the baseline. He got the ball to Ron Dillard as he was falling out of bounds. Dillard made the layup and the Bearkats were down by just one with 38 seconds left.
Bossier committed a foul with 31.6 seconds left and the Wildcats made both free throws. After a miss on a drive to the basket, the Bearkats were forced to foul. Wossman converted both free throws with 14.3 seconds to play for a 54-49 lead.
The Wildcats blocked a 3-point shot and made one more free throw for the final margin.
Robinson led Bossier with 18 points. Dillard added 10 and Thomas eight.
Davis had a team-high 10 rebounds. Dodson and Thomas had seven each.
Jontae Turpin and Roosevelt Dean led Wossman with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Dontavious Daggs hit three of the Wildcats’ five 3-pointers and finished with nine.
Free throws were a key factor in the game. Neither team shot them particularly well. But Wossman was 16-of-26 and Bossier 9-of-16.
Bossier was 2-of-13 from 3-point range. Wossman was 5-of-17.
The Bearkats had 19 turnovers. The Wildcats had 13.