Bogalusa made a memorable comeback and scored the final 15 points of Tuesday’s game to capture a 64-59 victory over Varnado at home Tuesday.
The Lumberjacks trailed 59-49 with 6:07 left in the fourth quarter.
Kim McGowan had just hit a 3-pointer to extend the margin to 10, but Bogalusa’s Josh Taylor made a layup on the ensuing possession to make it an eight-point game.
Taylor’s layup began a run of 15 consecutive points to end the game, as the Lumberjacks played solid defense and created several turnovers over that time.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well early at all,” Bogalusa coach Randall Ginn said. “We didn’t really panic about that. I kind of got on the team for not playing the correct defense. We were stuck on 11 and 13 for a long time and I really didn’t panic about that too much about that. When you play hectic like we do, you’re going to go on runs. I was disappointed the ball got to go to the middle of the hoop through the middle of our defense early on, but we’re definitely resilient.”
Bogalusa closed the gap at the 4:20 mark when Taylor hit a floater to make it a 59-53 contest. T.J. Peyton worked his way to the bucket for two and it was a four-point game with 3:28 to go. Quientay Henry’s field goal trimmed the lead to 59-57.
Demarcus Spikes went to the line for a 1-and-1 and an opportunity to tie the game with 1:41 to go. Spikes made the front end and then the back end of the 1-and-1 and the game was even at 59-59.
DaJuan Powell made a steal and got fouled on the shot 15 seconds later. Powell had an opportunity to put his team in front, and like Spikes, Powell took advantage of the chance. He hit both attempts from the line and Bogalusa had a 61-59 lead at the 1:26 mark.
The Lumberjacks made a steal on the next possession. Ginn called timeout with 1:10 left. Bogalusa spread the floor, took up time and Peyton was fouled with 35.5 seconds left. Peyton was fouled and split the free throws and it was a three-point lead.
Both teams missed a pair of free throws. Powell made a steal and Peyton hit a layup with eight seconds left to essentially seal the victory in the 64-59 win.
“It was a tough loss when we were leading the entire game,” Varnado coach Brett Cooper said. “We let Bogalusa hang around, and they took the lead in the end. Bogalusa is a good team and they played hard the entire game.
“We have to learn to put a team away when we have the opportunity and not let them stay in the game, but overall I am proud of my team. We are getting better every game. We have a lot of new faces this year because we graduated a big senior class last year, but we have a good foundation to build off of. The main thing I preach to my players is not to make the same mistake twice.”
Varnado led Bogalusa, 17-11, after the first quarter.
The Wildcats increased the lead to 27-16 at the 4:03 mark of the second quarter — their biggest of the game.
Bogalusa trimmed the deficit to 34-28 at the break.
The Wildcats took a 51-47 lead to the fourth quarter and increased it to 59-49.
Varnado opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run.
Bogalusa came back with 15 straight over the final six minutes of the game for the 64-59 victory.
Peyton and Chance Turner tied with a game-high 18 points each for Bogalusa. Turner recorded a pair of 3-pointers.
Taylor and Spikes posted seven points each while Powell and Henry both tallied six and Raheem Roberts added two in the victory. Henry was good on two 3-pointers while Taylor and Powell made one each.
Brandon Lee led Varnado with 16 points.
McGowan posted 14 points and he hit four 3-pointers.
Jaheim Hooks tallied 12 points and he made a 3-pointer.
Jhaquawn McConnell posted nine points while Javon Bickham, Kevis Brooks, Adrian Bickham and Trevon Haynes all added two for the Wildcats. McConnell was good on a three 3-pointer.