Bowling Green’s Buccaneers suffered a 57-45 loss to Leake Academy in the opening round of the Class AA Tournament of the MAIS State playoffs at Canton Academy in Mississippi.

The Bucs trailed, 27-26, at halftime but Leake outscored Bowling Green, 18-7, in the third quarter to go up by 10.

Leake extended the margin to 46-34 at the beginning of the fourth period. Leake had a 12-point lead four times during the final quarter, which was its biggest.

Bowling Green got as close as eight but couldn’t pull off the comeback in the 12-point setback.

Jared Gambino finished with 12 points on four threes to lead Bowling Green. All nine of his field goal attempts were from beyond the arc. He also grabbed a rebound.

K.J. Robertson had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds to go with three assists and two steals. Robertson was five for 11 in field goal shooting.

Connor McCain put up 10 points on three of five from the field and four of six at the free-throw line. McCain also posted four rebounds and an assist.

Jordan Barnes posted eight points, three rebounds and one assist.

Bryan Ottinger had four points, a rebound and an assist.

The loss ended Bowling Green’s season after a 20-15 campaign. The top three teams advance to the overall tournament.

The Buccaneers had five seniors on this season’s club, including McCain, Robertson, Gambino, Ottinger and Brady Goings.

Bowling Green reached this point by finishing fourth in the South State Tournament, which was held at Brookhaven Academy last week.

After downing Wayne Academy, 66-36, in the opening round, the Bucs lost the final two games for the fourth-place finish.

In Friday’s action, they lost to Central Hines Academy, 52-48.

Bowling Green trailed, 24-20, and then the teams scored 14 points each in both the third and fourth quarters to reflect the final score.

Robertson led the Buccaneers with a double-double. He scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while dishing out an assist.

Dylan Varnado posted nine points on 3-of-4 shooting to go with two boards, a block and an assist.

Goings and Ottinger scored seven-points each.

Goings grabbed a pair of rebounds and had an assist. Ottinger posted a rebound, an assist and a steal.

McCain finished with six points and three rebounds.

Barnes had five points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Gambino added two points for Bowling Green.

The next day, the Buccaneers lost to Simpson Academy, 62-34.

Bowling Green got off to a rough start, getting down 21-6 after one.

Varnado was the Buccaneers’ leading scorer with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds and dished out an assist.

Robertson put up seven points and nine rebounds while adding two assists, two steals and blocking a shot.

Goings had six points on two of four shooting.

McCain posted five points on 2-of-4 shooting. McCain also tallied seven rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.

Barnes, Adams and Jace Ball added four, two and one point, respectively.

Barnes had four rbounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Ball also posted a board, a block, an assist and a steal.

Robertson was named to the South State’s All-Tournament team after averaging 10 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.