The opening round of the 2022 Oklahoma Class 3A Boys Basketball Area I Regionals, that was slated to begin on Thursday afternoon, finally got tipped off on Saturday night at Eagle Event Center in Hennessey. It was worth the wait.
Hennessey received a tough draw following their 50-44 District Win versus the Lindsay Leopards a week ago. The Alva Goldbugs faithful showed up in mass, outnumbering the Hennessey fans almost 2 to 1, to cheer on their #3 Ranked, 22-2 Goldbugs. The Goldbugs were expected to win. Coach Brady Page and the Hennessey Eagles had other plans.
Offensively in the first half, the Eagles controlled the paint down low with Sophomore Jael Torres. His 14 points in the first two quarters had the Eagles in the lead for almost the entire half, before a late steal and basket by the Goldbugs, giving them their first lead, 25-24, just as the 1st half ended. Alva stretched their 1 point lead to 3 after 3 when they lead 39-36 going to the 4th Quarter. The Eagles’ Defense was outstanding in the 4th, holding the Goldbugs to only 8 points in the frame. The Eagles finally tied the game at 43-43 with 2:45 to play, but trailed again by 3 with under a minute to play. A Torres 2 with less than 10 seconds to go still had the Eagles trailing by 1. The ‘bugs inbound pass was deflected and rolled to Layton Choate, who took one step and laid in the game winner, giving the Eagles the 48-47 lead and win, as the EEC erupted with the Eagles’ victory.
Choate finished with 8 Points and 2 Rebounds. Timmie Perry had 3 (1 of 6 made 3’s for the Eagles), James Sims added 2, Cristian Rodriguez knocked down Three 3’s as well, as part of his 13 Points, and Torres lead all scorers with 22 Points and 6 Rebounds.
With the win, the Eagles (15-7) will play the Washington Warriors (17-8, #13 Ranked) in the Regional Championship this coming Tuesday, March 1 at 8:00 pm at Perry High School. And for the 9th time in his 11 seasons as the Head Coach of Hennessey High School, Brady Page will lead his team to the Area Round, to be played in Enid March 3-5.
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