It came down the wire, but the #5-ranked Vikings held on for a thrilling 57-56 win at Valhalla on Tuesday night against #10 Jefferson. East Hall (14-3; 3-1 in 8-AAA) threw down multiple dunks and held off a pesky Dragons team (11-5; 3-1) in a key region showdown.
The home team bounced out to a 15-7 lead after one, as Bray Langston had a buzzer-beating dunk to ignite the crowd. The scoring slowed in the second period, as Jefferson scored 10 to East Hall’s seven. Josiah Morris had a 3-pointer to get within three, and Ceven Nicely had another to knot the game at 15. Once again, the Vikings beat the horn on a tray by Jordan Richerson, taking a 22-17 lead at the break.
A Jamarcus Harrison dunk in the third for the Vikings was followed immediately by a beautiful alley oop thrown down by Langston as part of an 8-0 run. The Dragons fired back as Christian Hester got hot, scoring 10 points in the period, including a floater for the 36-35 lead. For a third time in as many quarters, East Hall got a buzzer-beater, this time Chasen Jones banking one in to tie the game at 37 apiece heading into the final period.
That set the stage for a wild finish. The lead would change hands several times in the final eight minutes. Hester had a potential 3-point play, but Vikings freshman Cooper Barton nailed a couple shots from beyond the arc and had another bucket as part of an 8-point quarter. Clay Owen would keep the Dragons in it with a couple of his own shots from downtown.
Hester had a shot that was counted due to a goaltend, tying the game at 49 with under three minutes on the clock. East Hall pulled ahead, but Dashaun Keith’s triple made it a 2-point game with 39 seconds left. Morris hit a deep shot at the buzzer to close it as a 57-56 final.
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Hester led Jefferson and the game with 22 points, with Owen coming in with 11 and Morris eight. Colton Grant had six, while Keith and Nicely each had three. Karter Shields and Kam Bailey each had two.
East Hall was paced by both Richerson and Jones with 10 each, and Harrison and Langston each had nine. Barton finished with eight, Key’ariun Randolph six, and Kahlil Goss five.
