Chipley traps Wildcats with big third quarter

ENTERPRISE – The Enterprise boys basketball team made a late charge against Chipley Friday night, but the Wildcats couldn’t muster enough to overcome a horrendous third quarter and fell to the Tigers 65-63.

Chipley, ranked second in Class 1A in Florida, won its 17^th straight game and improved to 20-3 overall. Enterprise, which had won eight of its last nine, fell to 20-6.

Enterprise had a strong opening half, hitting nearly 50 percent from the floor (14-of-29), including four 3-pointers, and hitting 7-of-9 at the foul line in scoring 39 points in the first 16 minutes to enjoy a six-point halftime lead.

Chipley, however, became aggressive defensively in the third quarter, doubling the ball, whether it was in the hands of Enterprise guards outside, especially Rhett Harrelson, or down low on Robert Washington. The pressure rattled the Wildcats into six turnovers in the first three half minutes.

Meanwhile at the other end, Tiger 6-foot-3 senior guard and Louisiana Tech signee Alex Hamilton connected on two straight 3-pointers and Emanual Batson and Cameron Dozier added a fastbreak layup each after a Tiger steal.

The combination helped Chipley overtake EHS with a 12-0 run that pushed the Tigers in front 45-39.

“They started hitting shots and they were playing stronger defense, trapping,” Enterprise head coach Kenny Hill said of the third-quarter spurt. “They know who we’ve got and who you have to stop. They took us out of sorts.”

The strong play of Washington late in the period kept the ’Cats in it. Washington scored eight of Enterprise’s 10 points in the last 3:55, keeping EHS close at 53-49 after three periods of play.

Washington finished the game with a game-high 24 points and had 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive boards.

“He played a real strong game,” Hill said.

The Wildcats ended the third quarter with nine turnovers and had only seven shots attempts, though they made four of the shots.

“They extended their defense and played good strong man,” Hill said. “It made us have to make tough passes.”

The double-teams also caused EHS problems.

“A lot of teams cheat out and if your man cheats out on Rhett, you have to roll to the basket and if you don’t do it will be a turnover,” Hill said.

Harrelson, Enterprise’s senior guard who has signed with Western Carolina, hit a jumper five seconds into the fourth quarter to cut the margin to 53-51. However, it would be the only points of the second half for the Wildcat standout, who had 11 in first half.

Chipley made a bid to pull away, scoring eight straight to open a 10-point lead at 61-51. Reserve guard Logan Justice hit a wide open 3-pointer from the left corner and an open jumper off the left baseline on consecutive plays to spark the run.

“Those were a big five points,” Hill said, noting it made the climb steeper for Enterprise.

A putback by Enterprise’s Joshua Boykin and a driving layup by Chipley’s Hamilton made it 63-53 Tigers with 3:11 left.

After two missed shots by Enterprise and a traveling violation on Chipley, the Wildcats began their late charge.

Washington hit two free throws after an offensive rebound then added a driving layup to make it 63-57 with 1:58 left.

A Chipley turnover off the trap gave the Wildcats another chance, but Harrelson missed a 3-pointer.

However, Harrelson deflected a pass on defense on the next play and teammate Tre’von McNeal recovered. McNeal went the other way and missed a shot, but Washington grabbed the rebound and stuck it back in, cutting the gap to four with 57 seconds left.

Chipley’s Kobe McCrary made 1-of-2 free throws with 43.5 seconds left, but Enterprise’s Jourdan McGowan knocked down a pair of free throws with 36.2 seconds left, slicing the margin to 64-61.

McCrary again hit 1-of-2 free throws with 34.4 seconds left to make it 65-61, but Enterprise missed on two 3-pointers at the other end. After a Chipley miss, Enterprise’s Washington hit a putback at the buzzer.

Hamilton led Chipley with 22 points. Dozier followed with 18 and McCrary had 14.

In addition to the 24 by Washington and 13 from Harrelson, the Wildcats got 10 points from McGowan.

However, McGowan, a 6-foot-3 guard, was unable to play the third quarter and part of the fourth after having stomach problems at halftime.
Hill said McGowan’s absence hurt from a defensive standpoint against Hamilton.

“He could have matched up with him height for height,” Hill said. “That would have helped us.”

Enterprise JV boys 53, Chipley 22: Enterprise’s junior varsity team ended the season 15-2, routing Chipley’s boys.

Ramal Jagoe led Enterprise with 15 points. Yvonte Bynum and Maurice Murphy added nine points each and Kendrick McCullough had eight points.

Carlon Smith led Chipley with 12 points.