One thing the Yazoo City Indians and South Delta boys’ basketball teams have in common this season is their propensity for shooting the long ball. Neither team is shy about launching shots from behind the three point arc, which made for an exciting contest this past Tuesday.
Both teams connected on eight three pointers in a high-scoring game that took an extra period to decide. In the end, the Indians were able to come away with an 80-75 victory and improve to 4-2 on the season.
South Delta, who was coming off a recent 100-plus point showing against Yazoo County, came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. With the Indians exploring different defenses to slow them down, the Bulldogs eased out to a 19-13 first quarter lead. By the second quarter, the Indians determined that their man-to-man defense was best suited to slow South Delta down, and both teams notched 16 points which left the Bulldogs ahead, 35-29 at the half.
The Bulldogs maintained their lead until midway through the third quarter when Indians began to get hot from behind the arc. Trailing 40-39 with 4:42 left in the frame, guard Sam Johnson sank a deep three pointer to put the Indians ahead, 42-40. Back-to-back three pointers by Roosevelt Johnson and Davari Truman sent the Indian crowd into a frenzy and pushed the Yazoo City lead to 48-40 at the 3:50 mark. Kory Price tacked on another three pointer later in the quarter that saw the Indians score 30 points to South Delta’s 14.
The Bulldogs bounced back, however, in the fourth quarter and outscored the Indians 20-10 to tie the score at 69 and force the overtime period. The Indians were able to hold off the Bulldogs, closing out the game from the free throw line (where they made five ) to preserve the win.
Roosevelt Johnson led a balanced Indian scoring attack with a team-high 18 points. Also scoring double figures were Sam Johnson with 13, and Truman, Chavis Banks and Leslie Nelson all with 12. Rounding out the scoring was Price with six, F.J. Lewis with four and Rorecoss Willis with three.
The Indians began a treacherous road schedule Thursday night when they visited rival Yazoo County in the first of a 7-game road swing. They will be playing in the Winona Shootout on December 2-3 and visit Greenwood on December 6.
