Scotlandville Battles State Champ Madison Prep Into Overtime, Gets Win at Buzzer

Twitter @drewrobison

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Family Christian Academy- Baton Rouge, LA

Morantz James rebounded a miss off the offensive glass with 4 seconds remaining in overtime. His put-back in the paint and lots of traffic dropped through with 1 second to go, giving the Scotlandville Hornets a 56-55 win over the defending State Champion Madison Prep Chargers.

James was an unlikely hero, finishing the game with 7 points. He was in the right place at the right time, and came through for his team. Reece Beekman hit the shot at the end of regulation for the Hornets that forced overtime. Beekman’s shot attempt and miss resulted in James’ bucket that won the game in front of a capacity crowd of several thousand at the Family Christian Academy Center.

“Coach is always telling us to crash, crash [for offensive rebounds],” said Beekman, who finished with 25 points. Beekman was clearly the energy and leader of his team, who only have 8 players on the roster. “Coach is always working on our conditioning, we know we are going to need it.” Beekman played all 36 minutes, four quarters plus overtime, without a rest.

Madison Prep had the upper hand for the whole game, leading early with a 13-9 score after the first quarter and 28-24 at halftime. Jahein Spencer was the Chargers’ scoring leader with 17 points. It appeared in the 4th quarter that guard Elijah Tate would seal the game for the Chargers. He hit 4/4 free throws with under 2 minutes to go, all holding a lead and keeping the pressure on the Hornets in the clutch.

But with under a minute left, Tate went to the line, up 52-51. He hit the first and missed the second. The 2 point lead (53-51) provided Beekman and the Hornets the chance to tie the game as regulation ended. Beekman attacked the rim, not needing a 3 point outside shot.

Free throws again haunted Madison Prep, as well as a costly late turnover in Overtime, allowing another opportunity for Scotlandville. The Chargers had a 55-53 lead with 28 seconds remaining, and missed both free throws following a shooting foul. The Hornets got to the line and hit one of two with 12.7 seconds remaining… now trailing 55-54.

On the ensuing in-bounds play, a tight Hornets defense forced a Prep turnover, and Scotlandville got the ball under their own basket with 12.0 left. The Beekman miss and James follow up came next in the thrilling finish.

Scotlandville improves to 23-1 and will face Rayville at Grambling State next on January 18. Madison Prep slips to 16-6 and will face Salmen on January 14.