Bogalusa got off to a tough start offensively, but the Lumberjacks played strong defense Thursday and kept things close in a 62-55 victory over Independence to close out the District 7-3A season on Senior Night.

The game was tied 8-8 after the first quarter.

Kenyatta Scott, who posted 19 points, including three 3-pointers, gave the Lumberjacks their first lead of the game at the 7:04 mark of the second quarter with a shot inside to make it 10-8.

Independence tied the game at 10-10 just 16 seconds later on Melvin Baker’s field goal.

Shortly after Baker’s shot, Bogalusa began to roll. The Lumberjacks scored 13 of the game’s next 15 points.

A steal led to Scott hitting for a layup with 6:09 left. Ronald McMorris connected with Tramarcus Levi on a layup for a 14-10 advantage. McMorris then passed to Scott for two more before Scott passed to Laster Hills for a bucket and the Lumberjacks led 18-10 with 4:23 to go in the first half.

Baker, who was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points, stopped the run momentarily with a basket with 3:57 left. Kenny Robertson, who posted five points, knocked down a three from the top of the key 25 seconds later and Levi, who posted 17 points, grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the putback. Bogalusa’s lead was up to 23-12 with 3:04 left in the second quarter.

Independence trimmed the Lumberjacks’ advantage to 25-20 with 42 seconds left, but Billy Mingo, who had 11 points, was successful on a shot with eight seconds on the clock and the Lumberjacks took a 27-20 lead to the break.

Independence got it back to five on Ladarius Wilson’s field goal to begin the second half, but Bogalusa went on an 8-0 run to up its lead up to 35-22.

Scott was good on a fastbreak layup before Mingo, who had 11 points, scored the next three field goals.

Bogalusa increased the lead to 15 by the end of the third quarter after Scott beat the buzzer with a layup.

Bogalusa was ahead 60-46 with 3:47 to go when Independence made a run.

Damien Morgan, who had 16 points, hit for two with about 3:35 on the clock. He then made a 3-pointer at the 3:11 mark. Jude Perrin was good on a layup with 2:37 left.

After a timeout, Bogalusa spread the floor and ran out the clock. The Lumberjacks used up a minute, but a 5-second violation gave the ball back to Independence.

Ten seconds later, Morgan hit two free throws and the lead was down to 60-55, but the Lumberjacks tightened things up and did not allow a point over the final 1:27 in the 62-55 victory.

“We made a couple of mental errors right there about the five-minute mark, but we pulled together and got smart enough to know to make the corrections we needed, in order to win the ballgame,” Bogalusa coach Ken Matthews said.

The win, coupled with Albany’s 48-46 victory over Amite, means Bogalusa and Albany finished the season tied for first place, as each posted a 6-2 record.

Hills scored eight points for the Lumberjacks while Crumedy recorded three.

For Independence, Wilson scored eight points while Jonathan Baker posted six and Perrin added two.

Prior to the game, seniors from Bogalusa’s boys and girls basketball teams were honored in a pregame ceremony. The boys’ seniors are Crumedy, Robertson, Scott, McMorris and Anthony White.

The seniors for the girls include D’Sha Rankins, Nylijah Mingo and Jasmine May.

The Lady Jacks played their first-round playoff game after yesterday’s press time. They traveled to face Westlake at 6 p.m.