Bowling Green’s Wise keys win over Tigers

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 8, 2003

CENTREVILLE &045; Cody Wise only had to tell his coach one thing: Give me the rock.

The Bowling Green big man, who sat most of the second quarter, scored 10 of his team’s 11 points in overtime to steal a victory away from Centreville Academy.

Wise finished with 28 in the game and had his way with the Tigers in the extra frame in the 60-53 win.

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Wise led the Buccaneers’ charge early, but grabbed some pine in the second period as his aggressiveness got him into foul trouble. He let coach Pat King know before the two teams tipped it in overtime this was his game to lose.

&uot;In my mind I knew I had to step it up, play smart and toward the end I wanted the ball,&uot; Wise said. &uot;I saw the lane was open and it was on from there. We didn’t play our best, but we got it together in the end.&uot;

The Bucs have no home this year. A violent incident last season at Bowling Green’s homecourt in Franklinton, La., has prevented Wise and his teammates the chance to play before a Buccaneer-friendly crowd.

But it hasn’t deterred the charge very much, as displayed Tuesday night.

&uot;It’s tough to deal with, but we work around it and just play ball,&uot; Wise said. &uot;The fan support is not as good as it can be, but we love our fans who can come out here.&uot;

Centreville took its first lead of the game, 17-16 with 3:33 left in the first half and minutes later retook a margin it did not relinquish until late in the game.

Wise hit two free throws to push Bowling Green ahead, 47-46, with 34 seconds left to play in the game.

The Bucs got another foul shot from Ryan Hunt seconds later, but a successful trip to the charity strip from Centreville’s Matthew Perkins with 11 seconds to play tied the game 48-all to send the game into overtime.

Wise certainly was the main factor in overtime, but King credited Hunt with getting Bowling Green back into it and he was right.

Hunt was a monster from long range in the second half, knocking down three 3-pointers, including one in the fourth that tied it 34-34 with 7:42 lead.

&uot;Cody was definitely the sparkplug and had the size advantage inside, but (Hunt) led us back in this one,&uot; King said. &uot;Our defense was lazy and (Centreville) shot the ball well.

&uot;In the second half we were in a dogfight and our kids responded well.&uot;

Perkins led the Tigers with 19 points as Cody Anderson chipped in with 15. However, both joined starter Jamie Watts in the overtime period on the bench fouling out early in the additional session.

Centreville head coach Eric Erickson was proud of how his team played despite the loss.

&uot;My team hustled the whole way. We played good team basketball,&uot; he said. &uot;We’ve had problems earlier this season not playing together, but tonight was good.

&uot;We had a lead and it was poor coaching on my part. We played an excellent game all around. I’m proud of them.&uot;

After taking its first lead of the contest in the second period, Centreville controlled the remaining minutes of the first half and most of the third period. Perkins’ trey with six seconds before the break sent the Tigers into the locker room with a seven-point lead, 25-18.

Centreville maintained its focus out of intermission, building the biggest lead of the night between both teams at 11, 31-20, with 3:04 to play on a Anderson bucket.

The Buccaneers ran off a 9-0 surge to cut their deficit to two, 31-29, late in the third.

&uot;We were down seven at half and we talked in the locker room what we needed to change up on offense and defense,&uot; Wise said. &uot;In the third we did a great job to regroup when we knew we had to step up.&uot;

Centreville girls 45, Bowling Green 29

Head coach John Brashier hasn’t had the rosiest of weeks recently, but Monday night it got a little better.

Brashier, who coached the Lady Tigers first from a wheelchair 2 1/2 weeks ago and then crutches after tearing his ACL, had three girls quit the team before the Christmas break, but watched his now eight-man roster play unselfishly in an impressive victory.

Jenae Jackson had her way with the Lady Buccaneers on her way to leading all scorers with 14 points. However it was the assists from the backcourt of Jenny Watts and Emily Knighton that set up Jackson and the rest of the Lady Tiger points.

&uot;Jenny is more of a streetballer, but so athletic. She and Emily were a part of the state champs that won the 4×100 last year in track,&uot; Brashier said. &uot;They compliment each other real well. Knighton is my best player on defense and she has to sacrifice her points sometimes because she knows she’ll face the other team’s best player.&uot;

But not necessarily against Bowling Green as both Knighton and Watts logged 11 points.

This one was over before you could blink, as Centreville jumped out to a 13-0 lead on the strength of Jackson’s inside play and the Lady Tigers aggressive defense.

At no time did the Lady Buccaneers cut their deficit under 12. The closest Bowling Green got was 19-7 with 4:16 to play in the second period.

&uot;Their team speed affected us a lot. That’s something you cannot teach,&uot; King said. &uot;It’s also tough playing defense against someone (Jackson) who is a foot taller than any of our girls.&uot;

Brashier said he has been trying to instruct his young star to shoot the ball more, but the team’s unselfish ways have rubbed off on Jackson as well.

&uot;She’s a very disciplined girl when it comes to fundamentals,&uot; he said. &uot;If we can run against teams and get the ball in the middle to Jenae we’re OK. She’s got such soft hands and it’s easy for her to get a shot off being so tall. She’s the best pure shooter on the team.&uot;