Going into Friday night Boiling Springs had many scenarios that could effect their playoff status but the only sure thing was that if they won they were in and that's exactly what they did as they defeated the Gaffney Indians 56-38 to clinch the number four seed in Region II-5A. The Bulldogs locked down the fourth seed with their victory and also with Spartanburg defeating Byrnes on Friday night. "We had a lot of scenarios but we came into tonight with one goal and that was to control our own destiny with a win," said Boiling Springs head coach Hal McManus. "We have a lot of tough teams in this region and to be able to grab fourth place I'm proud of our guys." The Bulldogs started the game off slow as they trailed Gaffney 15-10 at the end of the first quarter and still struggled offensively in the second quarter as they trailed the Indians 24-19 at halftime. "We were very disappointed in our first half effort," said Coach McManus. "Our guys really gutted up there in the second half though and I was really proud of how our guys played in the second half of the game." In the second half Gaffney started out the half trying to melt clock early but the Bulldogs defense played tough allowing the Indians to only score three points in the third quarter. The Bulldogs offense finally was able to find it's rhythm in the third quarter as well as Boiling Springs outscored Gaffney 15-3 to grab a 34-27 lead after the third quarter. One of the keys to the Boiling Springs defensive effort was junior Reggie Crocker who finished with five points and five rebounds but also added five block shots and three steals. "Reggie is a difference maker and he has been a great teammate all season even when he was injured," said Coach McManus. "When you drive against us he's a guy there in the post that forces you to adjust your shot and that's something that's not always seen in the stats." With the Bulldogs holding a seven point lead heading into the fourth quarter Boiling Springs was going to have to be good from the free throw line going down the stretch and they were exactly that especially from senior JB Kennedy who scored fourteen of his game high sixteen points from the line in the fourth quarter. Kennedy was fourteen of sixteen from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. "JB is our point guard and that's what we expect out of him," said Coach McManus. "He wanted to go down to the line there down the stretch and that's the attitude you want your kids to have when they go to the free throw line." Boiling Springs also got a nice night from senior Trayson Fowler who scored twelve points and grabbed nine rebounds on Friday night. With the victory Boiling Springs moved to 15-8 on the season and assured themselves the fourth seed from Region II-5A and will play at Northwestern on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. Lady Bulldogs Defeat Indians The Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs were in a very similar situation at the boy's team on Friday night needing a win to get into the playoffs and they did just that grabbing a 40-36 victory over Gaffney.
"We really needed that win because we have struggled the last few games," said Bulldogs head coach Dwayne Lytle. "Our energy level was down early but we just had enough to get the win tonight." The Bulldogs fell behind early as both teams struggled to score in the first quarter as Gaffney led 5-4 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter both teams struggled to score but the Bulldogs were able to grab a 16-14 lead at halftime. Boiling Springs was led in the first half by Caroline Reese who scored nine points for the Bulldogs including all four of their first quarter points. In the second half the Bulldogs were able to get their offense moving as Boiling Springs got contributions from other parts of their offense as Amaya Richardson scored seven of her ten points in the second half and Morgan Prioleau scored all of her five points in the fourth quarter. "I told the girls at halftime we couldn't live on Caroline's three point shots alone," said Coach Lytle. "I told them we had to have a complete team effort in the second half and I think we did that." The Bulldogs were able to find their final lead of the game in the fourth quarter when Ragan Bristol had a great assist to Richardson to give Boiling Springs the lead at 38-36 with just under a minute to go in the game. On the girls side of the bracket the playoff picture was a little more unsure even though the Bulldogs should be in the playoffs. At the end of the game Friday the Bulldogs were believed to be in fourth place and heading to Clover on Tuesday night but that had yet to be confirmed on Friday night. Comments are closed.
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