Keith Matthews (2) bangs bodies with Byrnes’ K. Williams Tuesday night. (Herald-Journal)
DUNCAN (Feb. 24, 2016) – It’s been 23 years since Byrnes has been to an upper state championship.
So, the Rebels used a 20-3 run to end the streak.
Byrnes used the run to outscore Blythewood 24-10 in the third quarter and pull away to a 75-55 home victory in the quarterfinals of the 4A boys’ basketball playoffs on Tuesday night. The Rebels (23-3) will face Spring Valley in the semifinals at 6:30 Saturday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Blythewood ended its season at 21-7.
Byrnes led 30-28 at the half before going on the run in the third quarter. The Rebels took a 54-38 advantage into the fourth quarter.
“I had a couple of people ask me what I told them at halftime,” Byrnes coach Layne Fowler said. “I’d love to claim some special speech, but I honestly went in there and told them we’ve been through these battles. We’ve got senior leadership. Just go play the game. I told them to take care of two things, which was our rebounding and turnovers. Once we took care of a few turnovers and rebounding, our finishes were good.”
Byrnes took a quick 6-0 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Ray Miller, but only held a 14-13 advantage after one quarter. It stretched the lead to 28-21 in the second quarter, but was outscored 7-2 the rest of the way into the break.
Bouvier Howard scored six quick points during the run in the third to give the Rebels a 38-32 advantage. Tyrique Glenn’s layup, followed by back-to-back baskets from Hayden Brown and Jaylan Foster and then a 3 from Miller pushed the lead out to 51-35 and the rout was on.
Howard led all scorers with 22 points, including 12 free throws. Glenn finished with 18 points, while Miller had 14.
“They expect me to knock down free throws at perfect times,” Howard said. “They’ve got my back, and I’ve got theirs.”
“Jaylan Foster, Bouvier Howard, Tyrique, Ray, those guys have been through the trenches,” Fowler said. “They were here when we weren’t great, and we’ve had good seasons since they were sophomores. We had an empty feeling after last season (losing in the third round).”
Blythewood was led by Eli Lake with 11 points, while Keith Matthews and Trae Chum each added 10.
“When you only commit three fouls in a half, you’re good,” Bengals coach Ezekiel Washington said. “They played well, and they just beat us.”
