Blythewood’s Dominique Lemon (3) puts up a fall-away jumper at Bluffton. (Photo/Warren Lee)
BLUFFTON – In the first round of the Class 4A playoffs, the Blythewood Bengals faced off against the Bluffton Bobcats but suffered a tough loss and a long drive home from the Lowcountry on Thursday night as the boys’ season ended with a 58-50 loss to the streaky, hard-nosed Bobcats.
With a team consisting of freshmen, sophomores, two juniors and the lone senior leader, Kenny McCray, the Bengals rose to the challenge, giving the home team Bobcats a run for their money.
“They left it all on the court,” said head coach Ezekiel Washington. “That’s all you can ask for, and they’ve done it all season long. I’m really proud of our guys.”
The Bengals fought hard throughout the game, but they were fighting from behind, as Blythewood trailed for the majority of three quarters after seeing a 13-13 tie with 4:35 remaining in the second quarter transform into a 29-17 halftime deficit on the backs of multiple ‘and-1’ opportunities for Bluffton’s illusive guards.
In the second half, Blythewood focused on penetrating and creating foul-shot opportunities for themselves and after two Trae Churn free throws followed by a Churn steal, monster dunk and foul shot, the Blythewood faithful came to life.
Two Bluffton possessions later, McCray stole a lazy pass from the Bobcats and finished on the other end to cut the Bluffton lead to a measly three points at 33-30.
The Bengals were back in business.
But after a timeout and an opportunity to catch their breath, the Bobcats came out and reeled off a 6-2 run to close the third quarter, retaining a 41-34 advantage heading into the fourth.
Blythewood started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, bringing the lead back to within two points, but just as the Bengals were mounting a run, Churn was whistled for his fourth foul, sending him to the bench temporarily. The Bobcats took advantage of the missing post presence and attacked the hoop. Blythewood matched Bluffton for two straight possessions.
With 1:59 to go in the game, Eli Lake picked a Bobcat’s pocket and hit Donovan Leach for a huge three-pointer that set the game at 49-46, but this would be as close as the Bengals would come.
Bluffton reeled off another spurt, aided by a phantom buzzer from the scorer’s table that allowed the Bobcats to score an easy lay-in. The Bengals forced them to earn the victory down the stretch, sending the Bobcats to the foul line in an attempt to claw back into contention, but the Bluffton foul shooters remained unfazed on their way to the 58-50 victory.
Camron Womack led the Bengals in scoring with 13 points. Churn and Kahlil Shakur-Harris each had eight points. McCray finished his final game as a Blythewood Bengals with a strong all-around performance of five points, three steals and four assists.
