The Tallulah Falls School Indians needed an extra frame to secure a win over White County, who forced overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game at 61 apiece. TFS went on to win 73-66 on Saturday at home.
The Indians opened up with a 12-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Anfernee Hanna 3-pointers and one by Diego Crotta. Vlad Popescu added seven points in the first period, with Hanna recording eight as TFS held a 20-13 lead after one.
It was a low-scoring second quarter, as White County edged TFS 9-7, leaving the halftime score at 27-22 in favor of the Indians. The third period saw the Warriors go ahead momentarily 30-29, but a 3-point play by Hanna reclaimed the lead for TFS at 32-30, and Popescu hit a shot from downtown for the 35-32 advantage. White County got a buzzer-beater to go up 41-39 heading into the final stanza.
After going down by three points, the Indians used an 8-0 run that was highlighted by a go-ahead 3-pointer by Lincoln Hall. That shot put TFS up 49-46. The Indians built a six-point lead, though the Warriors refused to go quietly. The visitors pulled within two points with one minute to go, and were down three with 2.6 seconds on the clock. White County guard Jadon Yeh hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as the horn sounded to send the game into overtime tied at 61.
In the overtime period, Popescu opened up the scoring with a clutch shot from downtown to press the lead up to three.
Popescu led the team in scoring with 26 points (with four 3-pointers), while Hanna chipped in with 21. Hall finished with nine points, Diego Crotta eight, Krystian Jankiewicz five, and two apiece for Joey Lamm and Zakhar Valasiuk. The Indians improve to 5-1 on the season with their second straight win.
The JV team took a 53-40 win to remain undefeated on the season. The Indians got out to a fast start behind three tri-fectas by Jay Taylor. TFS held a 14-8 lead going into the second.
Both teams exchanged buckets until the half, though Andrija Vujacic had a buzzer-beater putback to give the Indians a 30-23 lead going into the locker room. TFS outscored White County 23-17 in the second half to staple down the win.
Vujacic had a game-high 16 points, followed closely by Taylor’s 14. Petar Radovic added 11, Teryk Tilley and Hayden Bootle five apiece, and two by Timothy Bain. TFS JV is now 3-0 on the season.
