In a season where the Todd County Central Rebels are re-writing some of the history of the basketball program at the school, they added a big ole chapter Thursday in Richmond. In a game that saw 8 ties and 16 lead changes, the Rebels picked up the first All A Classic state tournament win in school history by getting by West Carter 52-48 at McBrayer Arena.
The game was hard-fought throughout and not settled until Mareke Johnson made two free throws with 7.8 seconds left in the game to give Todd Central the final four-point margin.
Johnson’s huge free throws came after West Carter’s Jackson Bond picked up the ball out of a wild scrum and connected on a three from the top of the key to cut the Todd Central lead to 50-48 with 9.8 seconds left, setting up Johnson’s heroics at the line.
The back and forth nature of the game got going from the very start. The first quarter alone saw five ties and six lead changes. Thanks to the play of Mareke Johson, who came off the bench to score seven points in the quarter, and Jacob Brandon, who drilled two three-pointers, the Rebels led 19-16 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was more of the same. The score was only tied once, but there were six lead changes during the second. The Rebels would have had the opportunity to put some distance between themselves and West Carter, but ball security was a problem, as Todd Central gave the ball away five times in the quarter. Still, the Rebels were able to go to the locker room all knotted up at 30-30.
West Carter might have seized the momentum going into the locker room if not for a huge defensive play from big man Jamison Glass. West Carter came up with a steal with four seconds to go in the half, but Landon Nichols’s layup attempt just ahead of the horn was “forcefully” rejected and the game stayed tied.
It looked as if Todd Central had taken the momentum as the Rebels came out of the break and scored the first four points of the second half to take a 34-30 lead. However, the Comets answered with six of their own, and the back and forth swings of the game continued. By the time the quarter wrapped up, there had been three more ties and four more lead changes. The Rebels got back-to-back baskets from Jamison Glass and Preston Moore and took a 41-38 lead into the final quarter.
Leading 43-40 with 6:30 to go in the game, Todd Central would get free throws from Jamison Glass and a big three-pointer from Jacob Brandon to take the biggest lead of the game at 48-40 with 4:03 left. The problem for the Rebels is that they only went 1 of 7 from the field in the final quarter and that enabled the Comets to close within two, but that would be it. The Rebels, who had a few struggles at the free-throw line earlier in the game, knocked down 8 of 9 in the final quarter to secure the win.
Preston Moore was a one-man wrecking crew for the Rebels. Moore finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists. Jacob Brandon and Jamison Glass ended the game with 9 points each. Glass also had 9 rebounds and 7 blocked shots.
For West Carter, Jackson Bond and Landon Nichols were a tough 1-2 combination. Bond ended with 21 points, while Nichols had 20.
Todd Central improves to 16-4 with the win, which was the first-ever for the Rebels in the All A state tournament. Their three previous appearances ended in the first round in 1999, 2000, and 2004.
The Rebels will now play Evangel in the second quarterfinal of the boys’ tournament, Friday evening at 6:30 eastern time at McBrayer Arena.
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