The Haughton Buccaneers rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit en route to a 62-56 victory over the Benton Tigers Tuesday night at Haughton.
The victory evened the Bucs’ record at 7-7. Benton dropped to 5-8.
Elsewhere, Plain Dealing fell to Booker T. Washington 57-51 in a battle of Lions at BTW. The Airline Vikings dropped a 15-point decision to the Ruston Bearcats on the road.
At Haughton, Benton trailed by five at the half but came out hot in the second, scoring the first 12 points. The Bucs didn’t score until they hit a free throw with 3:17 left in the third quarter and the Tigers eventually extended the lead to 42-34.
Haughton finished the third quarter with a flourish, though, and trailed just 42-40 going into the fourth. The lead changed hands several times early in the fourth quarter before the Bucs finally took control late in the game.
The Bucs led 52-49 with with just over two minutes remaining. Ja’marcia Banks, who led the Bucs with 20 points, then nailed a big 3-pointer to give Haughton a six-point cushion.
After a Benton turnover, Javonte Woodard fed Cody Lilly the ball for a fastbreak layup and an eight-point lead. Lilly scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarter.
Damien Sears added eight points for Haughton. Woodard and Kobe Byrge had seven each.
William Givens led Benton with 11 points, and Da’Jerrick White had 10. Jessie Little scored eight. Tanner Craft and Josh Scherer had seven each.
At BTW, Chiner Long led Plain Dealing with 20 points and Isaac Jacobs added 10. BTW (11-2) and Plain Dealing (8-7) are both in the Bossier Invitational, which starts Wednesday.
Airline, which is also in the Bossier tournament, dropped to 7-9 with the loss to Ruston.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
