Dragons, Bulldogs to meet in title game

RISON – Tyrus Grayson scored 45 points, including the tying 3-pointer to send the game into overtime Friday as Junction City outlasted Bearden 98-97 in the semifinals of the 7AA-East District Tournament. The Dragons improved to 15-5 and will play

Strong in tonight’s final.

Junction City rallied from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Down 86-83, the Dragons called timeout with 4.4 seconds left. The inbounds pass went to Grayson, who took a dribble before rising up and draining the 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“When I first called it, we were going to try to get a pass and then get it back to him. I was afraid we weren’t going to have time,” said Junction City coach Kendall Hutcheson. “We worked on a play and he got the play. He did what a great player does. They did a pretty good job of defending it. He just made a great shot.”

The Bears built a 93-88 lead in the overtime before Grayson took over, scoring six straight points to tie the game at 94-94.

Keelen Ford scored to give Junction City the lead with 1:25 remaining. The Dragons missed six straight free throws before freshman Jerrodney Tubbs scored on an offensive putback.

Bearden hit a desperation 3-pointer to cut the final margin to one.

Strong 62,

Dermott 54

RISON – Strong’s combination of transition offense and LeAndre Rucks in the paint proved too tough Friday as the Bulldogs handled Dermott in the semifinals of the 7AA-District Tournament.

“It’s been a long time. It’s been three years. The last couple of years, we’ve been close and couldn’t get in the door,” said Strong coach Anthony Avery. “Right now, you can throw all the records out the door. They don’t mean anything, right now. We’re just trying to play defense as a team. We’ve got in the championship. We’ll see what we can do from there.”

Malik Lee scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs. Rucks scored 15, including five dunks. Lequlis Champion contributed 13.

“The key was getting on the boards, keeping their main guy, number 30, off the boards,” said Avery. “I thought my kids did a great job of that.”

Strong (20-6) led 18-11 after one quarter after back-to-back lay-ups by Lee, including one off a steal and assist by Javonte Newton. A 9-2 spurt pushed the lead to 33-21 before the Rams closed to within 33-25 at the half.

The Bulldogs maintained the cushion until Dermott’s 6-0 spurt closed the gap to 47-43 early in the fourth. But, Rucks went up high to stuff back an offensive rebound. Moments later, Lee went coast-to-coast, eluding a defender with a behind-the-back dribble before throwing down a dunk, which brought the crowd to its feet. Champion followed with a lay-up as the Bulldogs went on a 10-4 spurt to put the game away.

Brandon McAlister led the Rams with 14.