WEST POINT — The New Hope High School boys basketball team nearly made everyone forget its slow start.
Somehow after scoring only four points in the first quarter and trailing by 16 points, New Hope found itself in the lead, 55-54, following a steal by Jaylon Bardley and a thunderous dunk by Shemar Johnson with 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining against Oxford in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 2 title game at West Point High.
But that would be the only lead the Trojans would taste.
Cortez Jones had 18 points to lead four players in double figures in top-seeded Oxford’s 72-69 overtime victory against second-seeded New Hope.
“I thought they played with unbelievable effort to get us back in the game,” New Hope High coach Drew McBrayer said. “We just didn’t make enough plays to win. What a great basketball game, though.”
Shelby McEwen sealed the victory when he stole the ball from Demyis Mayberry at the top of the key as the Trojans’ senior was attempting to launch a potential trey to tie the game.
The game made it to an extra session after Oxford’s Josh Gibbs and New Hope’s Bardley hit 1 of 2 free throws in the final 26.8 seconds. Jarkel Joiner missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the end of regulation, and the Chargers couldn’t get a shot off after collecting the offensive rebound.
In overtime, David Dennis hit the first two free throws in what turned out to be a parade to the free-throw line for Oxford. Mayberry helped keep New Hope in the game with a 3-pointer that cut Oxford’s lead to 63-62. Toddy Jennings’ offensive rebound putback with 23.3 seconds to go helped the Trojans inch back to 71-69, but Joiner hit 1 of 2 free throws with 18.2 seconds to go to force New Hope into attempting a 3-pointer.
In the girls game, Janesha Johnson had a game-high 22 points to lead Oxford to a 65-52 victory against West Point.
Oxford (22-7) will get the bye, while West Point (15-15) will play host to Ridgeland at 7 p.m. Monday.
Alexis Gates led West Point with 15 points, while Qiayon Bailey had 14 and Tia McCary had eight.
On the boys side, the victory earns Oxford (25-4) a bye, while New Hope (20-8) will play Canton at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Joiner and McEwen added 15 points, while Gibbs added 12 for the Chargers, who were 11 of 16 from the free-throw line in the four-minute OT.
Terryonte Thomas and Mayberry led New Hope with 23 points apiece. Bardley added eight, while Johnson struggled from the field and scored only two points.
New Hope was 2 of 14 from the field in the first quarter and trailed 20-4 after eight minutes.
“We haven’t been down like that but once this year, and we actually came back and won that game against Meridian (at the Joe Horne Columbus Christmas Class), so I knew they had the fight in them,” McBrayer said. “The kids never got down. They believed in themselves and they kept fighting.”
The deficit remained in double digits until midway through the third quarter, when a layup from Jennings off an assist from Thomas made it 37-31. A jumper by Thomas and 2 of 3 free throws by Mayberry at the end of the quarter cut the Chargers’ lead to 40-35.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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