Reynolds edges past Glenn
(pictured above: Reynolds’ Xavier Coles (24) defends against Glenn’s Marcus Harris (4). ) ( photo by Charles E. Leftwich Jr.)
The home crowd at Glenn revved up its noise level as Ian Henderson of Reynolds stepped to the free-throw line with the game tied. Henderson ignored the jeering and hit two foul shots with 4.5 seconds left to give his team a 61-59 victory in junior varsity basketball action last week.
“Coming into this game, I told my team that they would get a stiff challenge and that’s exactly what happened,” said Coach Mike Coker of RJR. “We showed more determination to play better defense in the second half and that really helped.”
Henderson’s free throws capped a wild finish in a game that wasn’t decided until the very end. With 2:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, Henderson buried a three-pointer from the right wing and it looked like Reynolds (3-0) had the game under wraps.
Glenn was far from finished and responded with an 11-1 run in the closing minutes. Jordon Ward’s put-back with 19.3 seconds to go tied the game at 59. The decisive play of the evening occurred on the Bobcats’ next possession. Josh Jenkins was whistled for an offensive foul and was hit with a technical when he objected to the call.
Because of the technical, Reynolds got the ball back after Henderson’s free throws. Glenn (3-1) never got the opportunity to attempt a desperation shot.
“At the start, we didn’t have the intensity to play the way we’re capable of playing,” said Coker. “In the second half, we started moving the ball on offense and applying more defensive pressure. Once that happened, our scoring picked up and everything else started to fall into place.”
Arin Broadnax led the way for the Demons with 12 points, followed by Henderson and Xavier Coles, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
The loss was a bitter one for Glenn to swallow. The Bobcats controlled the action for most of the game and led by as many as 12 points (39-27) early in the third quarter. But that’s when the momentum changed, mostly because of a disastrous four-and-a-half minute stretch in which the Bobcats failed to score.
By the start of the fourth, the Demons were back in contention. Coles hit a free throw to give Reynolds its first lead of the game and Christian Alford drilled a three-pointer to push the lead to 45-41 with 6:05 remaining.
Jenkins was the top scorer for Glenn with 12 points. Toby Brown finished with 11.
“This was a tough loss,” said Coach Clarence Hosch of Glenn. “I kept warning our guys not to let them hang around. We hurt ourselves by being careless with the ball. There were too many times where we played too much one-on-one and didn’t run our plays.”
Glenn had its way throughout the first half with Jenkins and Bryson Bell-St. John doing most of the scoring. The Bobcats led 34-27 at intermission.
“There were times during the game when it seemed like we were taking things for granted,” said Hosch. “After four games, our players are still going through that process of figuring each other out. But we’ll be OK.”
Junior Varsity Notes
The first round of the Lash-Chronicle Holiday Classic is set for Saturday (Dec. 13) at Carver. The match-ups: (13) Atkins vs. (4) Reynolds, 12:30 p.m.; (12) Walkertown vs. (5) Reagan, 2 p.m.; (11) Carver vs. (6) Mount Tabor, 3:30 p.m.; (10) Glenn vs. (7) West Forsyth, 5 p.m.; (9) Lexington vs. (8) North Forsyth, 6:30 p.m.
Here’s the rest of the schedule: Dec. 19 – Quarterfinals and consolation round at Carver and Winston-Salem Prep. Dec. 20 – Semifinals and consolation games at Carver. Dec. 22 – 3rd-place and championship games at Carver.
