Blog Live Blog -- Bethel versus L.C. Bird

[VaPrepsRod]

We've tipped the Bethel versus L.C. Bird contest, the fourth of the day in the 8th Annual VirginiaPreps Hoops Classic here at J.R. Tucker High School.

The Bruins have scored the opening four points just a minute into the game.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

The Bruins have tacked on four points and now lead 8-0 midway through the first quarter as they are taking advantage of the Skyhawks with big man center Dajour Dickens in the middle.

 

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With 4:16 left in the first, Bird calls timeout trailing 10-2.

 

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A three at the buzzer by Miles Barrett has extended the Bethel lead to 15-4 at the end of one as they've gotten eight points inside from Dickens and have forced Bird into 1-of-8 from the field.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

It continues to be all Bethel here in the second period as they've pushed their lead out to 24-8 with Dickens notching 10 points thus far with the Skyhawks hitting only 3 of 12 shot attempts.

The Skyhawks have turned the ball over 9 times with Bethel getting 14 points off those miscues.

 

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Dickens (6 of 7 shooting, 12 points) continues to be too much inside for Bird and the Bruins are consistently beating the Skyhawks down the court as they now lead 35-17 with less than a minute to go in the first half.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

At the half:

Bethel 37
Bird 19

Bethel Leaders
Scoring: Dajour Dickens (12) and Jeremiah Owusu (12)
Rebounds: Dajour Dickens (3) and Jeremiah Owusu (3)
Assists: Cam Bacote (3) and Justin Ned (3)

Bird Leaders
Scoring: Charles Falden (6)
Rebounds: Cam Henry (4)
Assists: Charles Falden (2)

 

[VaPrepsRod]

Bird and Bethel have played evenly through most of the third as the Bruins now hold a 47-31 advantage with two to play in the third.

Dajour Dickens (14), Jeremiah Owusu (13) and Kyle Foster (13) are heading up a balanced attack.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

The gym is starting to light up a bit with a late third quarter run by Bird as they've scored 8 of the last 11 points to close to 50-39 at the end of three.

With momentum seemingly on their side, the Skyhawks will be looking to force pace in the fourth and notch a big-time comeback.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

Midway through the fourth, Bird has cut it to 55-43 and has the ball so things could be on the verge of being very interesting.

The teams traded buckets to make it 57-45 but Bird hit a baseline jumper to cut it to 57-47 with 3:59 to go.

 

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Bird's pressure is forcing Bethel to hurry but it might not be enough as the Bruins still lead 63-54 with 1:42 to play.

 

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A steal and a bucket makes it 63-56 Bethel with 1:27 to go

 

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Cam Bacote hits a pair of free throws to hush the crowd making it 65-56 with 1:27 to play.

 

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After breaking the press, Dickens gets a two-handed jam to effectively end the comeback hopes of the Skyhawks making it 67-58 with 0:41 to play.

 

[VaPrepsRod]

Final: Bethel 71, Bird 58

See final stats here