The Craig County boys’ basketball team defeated Bath County in a Pioneer District game last week. The Rockets took a 56-54 win in Hot Springs.
Craig pulled the game out in dramatic fashion. They trailed by five points with a minute left and Bath had the ball. Jesse Brizendine deflected the inbounds pass and raced down the floor for a layup to cut the lead to 52-49 in favor of the Chargers, then Dalton McPherson cut it to two when he made one of two foul shots.
Down two, Craig had one final chance to tie it. Noah Nichols had a layup spill out but Dalton rebounded and beat the buzzer on the stick-back to send the game into overtime.
Bath struck first in the overtime period, retaking the lead at 54-52. However, that would be the last points the Chargers would score.
After cutting the lead to one point on a free throw, the Rockets had the ball with time winding down. Devin Hutchison nailed a three-pointer with 18 seconds to go to give the Rockets at 56-54 lead. Bath would have one last shot to win or tie but the Rocket defense held and Craig got a road win for the second time this season.
Brizendine finished with 11 points to lead the team. Dalton McPherson had 10 points and four assists, Wyatt McPherson had 10 points and six rebounds and Caleb Todd had 10 points, hitting all four of his two-point attempts. Nichols had a strong all-around game with six rebounds, five assists and four steals and he was also six-for-six from the line.
With the win Craig improved to 2-3 in Pioneer District play and the Rockets have a good chance to pull even in the district this week. They were scheduled to play at Parry McCluer on Tuesday, and that would be a challenge, but on Thursday and Friday of this week they host two teams they’ve already beaten on the road. Eastern Montgomery will be here for a Thursday night game and Bath will return the trip on Friday.
“We’ve been playing pretty well and it would be big to get back to .500 in the district,” said coach Ryan Frazier. “We’ve gotten great support this year, and these fans are really wanting to get behind someone. As long as you play hard they’re right there for you.”