The Eufaula Ironheads defeated the Preston Pirates 54-51 on a last second threepoint bucket by Maddox Bridges prior to the home crowd erupting at Perry Anderson Gymnasium in Eufaula Monday night.
The Ironheads were on fire early as they hit four three-point shots in the first period. Jentry James, Maddox Bridges and Jaxon Lange did the damage with Parish making two of the four.
The Ironheads outscored Preston 18-9 in the opening period.
The Pirates rallied in the second period outscoring the Ironheads 12 to 9 even with James’ two three-point scores.
Eufaula took a 27-21 lead into the halftime break.
Eufaula did an out-standing job of moving the ball up court and forcing steals on defense. Keaton Parish was red hot in the third period as he scored six points while Bridges and Ty Sparks applied great defensive pressure and converted steals into points on the other end of the court with multiple assists.
Both teams ran up and down the court exchanging score for score at times with Preston gaining the upper hand outscoring the Ironheads 16-15.
Eufaula had to play good defense in the fourth period and did so for the most part but scoring was limited as only two Eufaula players scored. James had five of his 14 points in the final period and Bridges added 7 points.
The Ironheads had three players in double digits with James, Bridges and Parish each finishing with 14 points.
With game tied 5151 Eufaula got the ball and moved up court trying to set up for the final play and it worked. Bridges moved around the arch when he got a good look and put up a long shot that ripped through the net scoring the winning bucket to seal a 54-51 victory.
The Pirates had two players in double-digit figures with G. Spencer and J, Goree each had 19 points in the loss.
Preston edges Lady Ironheads 41-40
The Class 2A No.12 ranked Preston Lady Pirates edged the Class 3A No.12 ranked Eufaula Lady Ironheads 41-40 in a barnburner of a game. Eufaula head coach Nick Yarbrough had his team leading at the end of the first three periods but the Lady Pirates rallied in the fourth period outscoring Eufaula 12-7 to earn a hard play on the road win.
Eufaula (5-2) led 2321 at the halftime break but failed free throws and fouls gave the Lady Pirates an opportunity and they took it. Both teams played excellent defense and were very physical on both ends of the court.
The Lady Pirates trailed 33-29 to start the final period. Fans could tell that the momentum had swung after a long three point shot and steal gave Preston their first lead and they continued to make big plays whether on defense or offense. The Lady Ironheads led 18-12 after the first period and had scored on four threepoint shots in the first half to take the 23-21 lead at halftime. However Preston chipped away at the lead from the paint and outscored the Lady Ironheads 9-5 in the second period.
It was a defensive ballgame after intermission as the Lady Ironheads held Preston to just eight points for the third period. Maddie Ballard and Kate Pippenger made some big plays and grabbed some offensive rebounds but Preston wasn’t going to be denied as they outscored Eufaula 12-7 to get the 41-40 victory.
Allie Anderson led Eufaula with 11 points, Williams 9, Ballard 7, Efurd and Pippenger each scored four points in the loss.
