Bryson Perdue picked the perfect time to have a career game. The sophomore scored in double figures and had multiple go-ahead buckets in an intense 35-33 win Friday at home against Stephens County.
The Indians got out to a 10-3 lead after one quarter. In the second quarter, TFS had a scoring drought that lasted until midway through the quarter. Perdue ended the dry spell with a basket to go up 12-6. Tallulah Falls had a 14-10 low-scoring halftime lead.
The third quarter is when things got tense. Stephens County pulled ahead until Perdue got a layup to go for a 17-16 lead. Jay Taylor then hit a deep shot from beyond the arc to put TFS in front 20-18. However, Stephens knotted it up at 22 apiece going into the final frame.
In the fourth, TFS had several big moments. Stevan Gabric had a steal and layup that was followed by a big block from Hayden Bootle. Taylor then heated up, draining a triple for a 27-24 lead and hitting another moments later to pad the lead to 30-24 and force a timeout. The game was tied inside the two-minute mark, and Taylor’s free throw with two minutes remaining gave TFS a slim lead.
The biggest bucket came on a miss that Perdue cleaned up and put it back with 32.2 seconds remaining. Despite Stephens County getting the last shot, the long 3-pointer rimmed off the back iron as Tallulah Falls survived 35-33.
Taylor finished with 12 points and 3 3-pointers, and Perdue scored a career-high 10 points. Gabric had six points, Zakhar Valasiuk three, and two apiece for Brian Neely and Bootle. The win snapped a 6-game losing skid for Tallulah Falls and moves the Indians to 3-6 overall.
The JV boys meanwhile suffered a 51-49 loss, their first of the year to move to 4-1 overall.
