Jags fall to sharp shooting Stampede, 70-59

When you shoot 56.8% from the field, your chances of victory are pretty high. But, when your opponent shoots 72.6%, that’s hard to overcome. That’s exactly what happened to the Jags on Thursday at Paul W. Bryant High School. Over the course of the game, the Stampede hit 17 of 19 shots in the paint, which equates to 89.5% shooting from close range. Sometimes, you just run up against a team that is clicking on all cylinders and that is really hard to beat.

The Jags actually held an 11-4 lead with 4:30 to go in the first quarter. But the momentum swung and, when the buzzer sounded, the Stampede had a 17-15 lead. Bryant kept up the hot streak and scored 22 in the second quarter. The Jags put 13 on the board in the second, resulting in an 11-point deficit at 39-28.

In the third quarter, the Jags got the Bryant lead down to six with under a minute to go. The Jags outscored the Stampede 15-12 by the end of the quarter, and cut the Bryant lead to eight, at 51-43. In the fourth quarter, the Jags hit a few buckets that made it feel like the momentum was about to shift, but the Stampede always had an answer to hold that in check. Bryant outscored Northridge 19-16 in the final quarter, for the final 11-point margin of victory at 70-59.

Anderson Wilkin led the Jags with 17 points on the night. Marquez Barrera and Jordan Suiter also reached double digits, scoring 11 and 10 respectively. John Walker added nine, Jonas Wilkin had six and Jalen Green totaled five. Kyle Nunnally contributed three. Barrera had four assists and Jack Sanderson dished out three. Nunnally, Suiter and Walker were credited with one assist each.

Walker led the Jags with five rebounds. Jonas Wilkin and Sanderson pulled down four rebounds each. Suiter tallied two rebounds, with Green and Nunnally snagging one rebound each.

Suiter and Walker were selected to the AHSAA Class 6A Area 6 all-tournament team. As runner-up, Northridge will travel to Helena for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Huskies on Saturday.