On the city’s east side Wednesday night, defending 3A state champion Crispus Attucks looked to head in the right direction in their quest for a repeat run. Standing in their way was a Scecina team that came into the evening winner of five of their last seven. Attucks had won six straight entering the contest.

 

The teams went back and forth early on thanks to a frenetic pace, but that would come back to hurt Attucks. The second quarter saw Attucks commit seven turnovers, many leading to easy Scecina baskets on the other end. When in the halfcourt, the Crusaders attacked the paint aggressively and were rewarded with a nine-point advantage heading into halftime.

 

 

Scecina came out of the locker room with the same aggressive mindset that they ended the first half with and were able to build on their lead. That lead would stretch to as many as 12 points for Scecina, at 47-35, before Attucks would go on a 9-0 run over the last two and a half minutes of the third, ending with a Derrick Briscoe three-pointer at the buzzer following a full court pass from Harold Bennett.

 

 

The run seemed to breathe life into Attucks, and the Tigers turned into the aggressors for the final 8 minutes. Derrick Briscoe was fantastic for Chris Hawkins’ side in the second half, scoring 19 of his game-high 26 points in the final 16 minutes. While Harold Bennett struggled with turnovers throughout the game, his playmaking ability was on display down the stretch, as he generated a couple of steals and turned those into points for himself and teammates. His layin tied the game at 56, the first time Attucks had drawn even since the end of the first quarter.

 

 

The Flying Tigers would take the lead at 60-59 before Makylin Brown would split a pair of free throws to bring the game back even, setting up the stage for the final possession. Following an Attucks timeout, Bennett drove left and was able to finish over the outstretched hand of a Scecina defender with 2.3 seconds left. A Manuel Brown 30 footer would go wide of the goal at the horn, giving Attucks their seventh straight win in come from behind fashion.

 

 

Attucks   17   8  19  18  -  62

Scecina  17  17  13  13  -  60

 

Attucks: Derrick Briscoe 26 points (11/17 FGs, 4/7 3Ps), 9 rebs, 2 blks; Harold Bennett 13 points (6/13 FGs), 5 asts, 3 stls; Jamal Harris 9 points (3/8 FGs, 3/5 FTs), 4 rebs; Jaylen Carson 6 points; Micah Poole 5 points (1/4 3Ps); Warren Williams 3 points

 

Scecina: Makylin Brown 18 points (8/10 FGs, 2/4 FTs), 4 rebs, 3 asts, 5 stls; Cobie Dillard 18 points (7/14 FGs, 2/4 3Ps), 3 stls; Manuel Brown 10 points (3/13 FGs, 1/6 3Ps, 3/5 FTs), 6 rebs; Kobe Clancy 9 points (1/7 FGs, 7/11 FTs); Jayvon Hatton 4 points; David Baker 1 point