Great Bridge hangs on to beat Granby 47-43

CHESAPEAKE

Great Bridge teammates Marcus Evans, Kenneth Davis and Taj Owens probably wouldn't have minded if only the last quarter had counted.

Granby and Great Bridge played most of their fiercely-contested Eastern Region opening round match-up Monday within a basket of each other - ending both the first and second quarters tied up.

When the final period started, the Wildcats led by two, 37-35. With two minutes left, the Wildcats (21-4) led by only a point.

That's when the Wildcats trio put the finishing touches on a 47-43 victory on their home floor. They moved on to a quarterfinal match Wednesday at Scope against Kecoughtan, a 68-63 winner over First Colonial.

"We made some good adjustments in the fourth quarter and were able to pull this one out," said Evans, who made his only two free throws of the game to round out the scoring with 14 seconds left. "I think we were off a little bit most of the night, but Granby is a good team and this shows us that we've got to work a little harder if we're going to get where we want to go."

With his team up by just one with 2:12 remaining, Owens made a 3-pointer from the left wing that Granby coach Mike Donovan said his team felt.

"I know there was quite a bit of time left, but that put them up by four and that was really big," Donovan said. "That was a really big shot.

"Then Evans goes up there and cans his two free throws at the end, and..."

After Owens' 3-pointer, Kenneth Davis hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the Wildcats a 45-39 lead.

But Granby (16-9) stormed back to within a basket when Aubrey Burrus drove the lane and Kareem Thompson burst through a crowd for an easy bucket underneath.

That's when Evans went to the line for a one-and-one after getting trapped on the end line and fouled trying to rise above the defenders for an outlet.

"You just gotta make those," Evans said. "This is the kind of thing that can only help us down the road."

Owens finished with a team-high 15 for Great Bridge. He also had seven rebounds and four assists. Davis had nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Andre Banks added 11 points.

Thompson led the way for the Comets with 15.