Durant defeats the Chargers in the playoffs.
Tuesday was a playoff game between the 8-17 Durant Cougars and the 17-8 Strawberry Crest Chargers. The game started with the Chargers as they missed the opening basket, but Jayson Lewis got the steal and layup for the first basket of the game. Alijah McFadden then took it into the paint for his own basket for the Cougars. Carter Valentin hit a baseline 3 for the Chargers. Corteze Hillary got an offensive rebound and putback for the Chargers to extend the lead. After another Cougars miss, Jayson Lewis found Corteze Hillary for a wide-open layup. A timeout was called after a 9-2 Chargers start. After the timeout, Lewis got another steal and a fast-break layup. McFadden stopped the scoring drought with a midrange. McFadden got his own offensive rebound and putback as he had all 6 of the Cougars points. Maximus Von Ancken got a steal for the Chargers and got to the free throw line after being fouled, where he went 2-2. Nathan Moore then beat the Chargers defense to the other side of the court for an easy layup. Lewis then found Von Ancken for a baseline 3, where another timeout was called, and the Chargers led 16-8. Lewis got another steal and layup after the timeout. Lewis got an offensive rebound and putback on the next possession. Nathan Moore pulled up for 3 to help the Cougars reach double digits. The Cougars got a steal, and Jamarcus Randall had a fastbreak dunk. Lewis hit a nice floater right before the quarter ended with the home team Chargers, leading 22-13.
Von Ancken got a steal and fastbreak layup, but Jamarcus Randall hit a nice baseline 3 for the Cougars. Niko Sosa got to the free throw line for the Cougars and went 0-2, but Josiah Cook got the offensive rebound and put back. Austyn Brown got a steal for the Chargers and found Von Ancken for the fast break layup. A technical foul was called on the Chargers, and Jamarcus Randall went to the free throw line, where he went 1-2. McFadden got an offensive rebound for the Cougars and made the baseline shot. They stole the ball and found Nathan Moore for the basket. A timeout was then called with the game tied 26-26 after a huge 13-4 run for the Cougars. After the timeout, Cougars Niko Sosa hit a 3 for the Cougars first lead of the game. Carter Valentin pulled up baseline for a 2 for the Chargers on the next play. Randall hit a 3 for the Cougars, followed by a basket by Von Ancken. Another technical foul was called by the Chargers, and Nathan Moore went to the free throw line, where he went 1-2. Josiah Cook got a layup for the Cougars to extend the lead to 3. The Chargers had to inbound it, and Von Ancken got a tough basket. Lewis got the ball for the Chargers and got to the free throw line where he went 1-2. At halftime, it was tied 35-35 with the Cougars outscoring Durant 22-13.
The second half started with Lewis hitting a mid range by the free throw line for the basket. Nathan Moore then attacked the paint to tie it up. Sosa got a fastbreak layup for the Cougars. Sosa hit a 3 to score 5 in a row. Lewis stopped the Cougars scoring run and got to the free throw line where he went 1-2. McFadden pulled up mid-range to extend the Cougars lead. Trey Jones got a layup followed by one from the Cougars. Randall got a steal and fastbreak dunk, and the Chargers needed a timeout since they were down 9 halfway through the quarter. Von Ancken got the basket for the Chargers after the timeout. McFadden hit the 3 for the Cougars as their strong second half continued. McFadden got an offensive rebound and putback to extend the lead. Corteze Hillary got an offensive rebound and was fouled, so he went to the free throw line for the Chargers, but he went 0-2. Trey Jones got to the free throw line for the Chargers and then went 0-2, but they got an offensive rebound, and Hillary made the layup. Lewis got to the free throw line and he went 1-2. Both teams turn it over on their next possessions but Lewis got a layup right before the quarter ended. The away Durant Cougars led 53-47.
Both teams were scoreless in the first minute of the fourth quarter. The first basket came as Sosa found Randall for the fastbreak alley-oop layup. A timeout was called with 6:11 left in the game. During the timeout, the basket was waived, so it was still 53-46. Sosa got a layup and Bryton Lawson got one for the Chargers. The Chargers failed to get back on defense in time as Randall hit a wide-open 3-pointer. Chargers Trey Jones got to the free throw line and went 1-2. Von Ancken got an offensive rebound and layup, followed by one by Moore for the Cougars. Austyn Brown went to the free throw line for the Chargers and went 2-2. A timeout was called with 4:19 left in the game, with the Cougars up 60-54. The Cougars turned it over on the next play and Von Ancken got a layup. Moore quickly scored, but it was answered by Jones. Moore got another one for the Cougars. Lewis hit a big 3 for the home team Chargers, and a timeout was called with 3:13 left, with the Cougars up 64-61. Lewis got a steal and found Austyn Brown for the layup. It was 64-63 with 2:18 left, and the Cougars turned it over. Von Ancken gave the Chargers the lead with the offensive rebound and layup. The Cougars turned it over again with 1:48 left in the game. Lewis then found Brown for a 3 to extend the lead. A timeout was called with 1:24 left in the game, and the Chargers were up 68-64. Josiah Cook got the inbounds layup to make it 68-66. Trey Johnson was sent to the free throw line as the Cougars attempted to stop the clock. Johnson went 2-2 to make it a 4-point game. Cook got an offensive rebound and layup to make it a 2-point game. A timeout was called with 13.5 seconds left in the game. Lewis was fouled and went to the free throw line and went 0-2 from the line. The Cougars got the ball with 10 seconds left in the game, down 2, and Sosa hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in the game. A timeout was called with the Chargers down 1. The Chargers miss, and the Cougars win 71-70.
