Boys Basketball: Skyline returns to the win column with strong fourth quarter
The Skyline boys’ basketball team continues its way back on course after having to quarantine for 10 days late last month. The Eagles started to show signs of their old selves in a tough loss on Thursday at Dearborn Divine Child.
On Saturday, they found their way back into the win column with a 50-37 victory over host Temperance Bedford.
The two teams were tied 11-11 after the first quarter before Skyline took a 25-20 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Kicking Mules kicked their way back into the game with a dramatic 5 seconds at the end to cut the deficit to 35-33 after three quarters. But the Eagles outscored their hosts 15-4 in the final quarter to lock down the SEC Red Division matchup.
“We struggled to get into a rhythm against the zone and did not convert some open shots early in the game,” Skyline Coach Mike Lovelace said. “As the game progressed, we started to move the ball better and take better shots mixing in some full-court pressure.”
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In the third quarter, Skyline continued to have some turnovers/miscues along with some promising play and had managed to get the lead back to eight points. But with an eight-point lead and 10 seconds left in the third quarter, Skyline was trying to get the last shot but the period “ended in disaster.”
Skyline committed a turnover and Bedford picked it up and scored a breakaway layup and got fouled in the process. The Kicking Mules converted the three-point play to cut the deficit to five points. Skyline then threw the inbounds pass out of bounds and on the ensuing inbound pass, Bedford made a triple at the buzzer to score six points in the final 5 seconds of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles played great on both ends with disciplined defense and good shot selection as they built the lead to 15 points with just under 2 minutes remaining in the game.
Senior Jack Williams led Skyline with 16 points. Jayden Potts had nine points, Chris Cayton scored seven, Ashay Arora had six points, Jermaine Davis scored five, Will Gardner had four points and Cole Streeter scored three points for the Eagles.
Skyline will play at Monroe on Monday night and will play host to Pioneer on Thursday night.
