AYA teams compete in close contest decided by five points

Published 12:02 am Sunday, February 22, 2015

Foster Insurance Agency’s Ben Sessions reaches for a rebound against Leading Pro Automotive during an AYA basketball game at Trinity Episcopal Saturday. (Sam Gause / The Natchez Democrat)

Foster Insurance Agency’s Ben Sessions reaches for a rebound against Leading Pro Automotive during an AYA basketball game at Trinity Episcopal Saturday. (Sam Gause / The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — Only one point was scored in the first quarter of the fifth and sixth grade AYA game between Foster Insurance Agency and Leading Pro Automotive.

But the slow start was quickly forgotten.

The two teams went back and forth the rest of the way, but Foster Insurance Agency was able to pull away at the end, taking the win 14-9.

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“It was our second win of the season, so they are very happy,” Foster Insurance Agency head coach David Sessions said. “We played pretty good defense and we have a hard time scoring, but today we were able to make some layups.”

At the end of the second quarter, Leading Pro Automotive tied the game at two with 55 seconds left. Foster Insurance answered with six seconds left, converting on a free throw to take a 3-2 advantage.

However, there was still time on the clock, and Leading Pro Automotive sank a buzzer beater to take a 4-3 lead into halftime.

Leading Pro Automotive increased their lead to two after converting on a free throw early in the third quarter, but Foster Insurance Agency was able to tie things up at five, midway through the quarter.

Leading Pro Automotive once again was able to find the bottom of the net late in the quarter, this time with 14 seconds left, to take a 9-7 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

But things began to take a turn for the worse for Leading Pro Automotive in the fourth quarter, when their point guard fouled out.

“That was tough,” head coach Matthew Freeman said. “He runs our offense, and losing him was big. He’s our leader.”

Foster Insurance Agency took advantage of their loss, and also converted on clutch free throws to finish the game.

“The kids were all over the place hustling, but they’ve got to learn to play a little better defense without fouling,” Freeman said.