BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
BEULAH — When cross-county foes Loachapoka High School (2A) and Beulah High School (3A) met on Nov. 21 for the first leg of a home-and-home series, nearly a month’s worth of bragging rights were on the line.
Both schools will have something to hang their hat on until they meet again on Dec. 17, after the LHS girls’ team took the first game of the evening with a dominant 53-29 showing, and the BHS boys’ team won a come-from-behind overtime thriller 56-52.
Following those games, the Lady Indians improved to 2-2 while the Lady Bobcats fell to 1-2. The Bobcats improved to 3-1, and the Indians fell to 1-2.
Lady Indians 53, Lady Bobcats 29
The Lady Indians did not waste any time establishing their presence, going on a 20-5 run in the first quarter that turned aggressive defense into transition opportunities and 13 combined points from Essense Key and Amanda Harris.
After falling into a deep hole early, the Lady Bobcats put together a much better second quarter, with excellent three-point shooting by Caylee Arnett and reliable scoring in the paint delivering a much-needed spark.
An 18-13 run by BHS in the second quarter shrunk LHS’ lead to 33-23 entering halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Lady Indians put any potential BHS comeback to rest in the third quarter with another staunch defensive effort and evenly distributed scoring that fueled an 11-1 run.
With LHS up 44-24 entering the fourth quarter, both teams took their foot off the gas as the Lady Indians went on a 9-5 run mostly courtesy of four points from Jalady Winchester.
Harris led all scorers with 14 points, and Key and Winchester added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for LHS. Arnett led BHS with eight points.
Bobcats 56, Indians 52
In the boys’ game, it was the Bobcats who raced out to a big lead early on after Ayden Sands’ white-hot, three-point shooting and a stifling interior defense gave them a 12-4 lead.
That dynamic was then flipped in the second quarter after the Indians went on an 18-6 run that saw Jordan Tyner score 13 points alone, mostly from behind the three-point line.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, LHS entered the locker room up 22-18.
Following the break, it appeared the Indians would cruise to victory after six players scored in the third quarter, overcoming seven points from Jederian Foreman, to go on a 15-10 run and extend their lead to nine points.
Despite LHS being up 37-28 entering the fourth quarter, however, BHS fought back with massive contributions from Sands and Beau Duck, who combined to score 11 points in the frame. A clutch three-point attempt by Cameron Baker with five seconds left then tied the game 46-46, capping off a frenetic 18-9 run by the Bobcats.
With the game going to overtime, anything could happen. In the end, BHS gutted out a 10-6 run in extra time behind two three-point baskets by Saban Chambers, who scored six of his 10 points in overtime.
Baker led the Bobcats with 16 points, while Foreman, Sands and Chambers scored 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively. Tyner led all scorers with 21 points, and Mitchell Chenier chipped in 15 points for the Indians.
