Redan’s William Bankhead (left) defends against Towers’ Domyius McFarland (right) during Redan’s 65-61 comeback against the Titans. Bankhead hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to cap the comeback. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Redan’s William Bankhead hit a long three-pointer from the right wing at the buzzer to send the Raiders to a 64-61 Region 5-2A boys’ high school basketball win over the Towers Titans at Redan on Friday night.
The Raiders (5-8, 2-2) knotted the game at 61-61 by scoring six points in a 47 second span including the tying bucket on a layup by Jamir Brown following a steal by Bankhead with 26 seconds left in the game.
Towers ran the clock down but a three was long and Redan’s Zion Green grabbed the rebound and got it up the floor to Brown and Redan called a timeout with 3.1 seconds to play inside the Raider’s half of the court.
Bankhead triggered the inbounds to Josh Westbrooks and got in to receive the pass back. He got the shot off just before the buzzer and hit the net for the game-winner to send the Raider team and fans into celebration mode.
Towers led from the 6:15 mark of the second quarter until the final 26 seconds of the game by going on a 13-0 run in the second quarter. Three-pointers by Jalen Kelly and Domyius McFarland keyed the big run for a 28-21 halftime lead.
Kevin Wynn’s three-point play with 36 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Titans (8-5, 3-2) a 50-38 before Green’s layup cut it to 50-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
A Bankhead three and four points by Brown driving the lane pulled Redan within 53-49 with 5:56 only to have McFarland drive for a pair of baskets and Wynn added another to push the Titan’s lead back up to 59-49 with 4:27 to play.
Westbrooks hit a three and Jordan Francis hit another from the right corner to close the gap to 59-55 with 1:49 to play. Following another basket by Wynn with 1:30 to play the Titans had a 61-55 lead with 1:26 remaining.
Brown drove the lane to start a 6-0 run by the Raiders with 1:03 on the clock and followed that up with steal that turned into a Green basket to pull Redan within 61-59. Bankhead’s steal and assist to Brown followed with 26 seconds left.
Brown finished the night with a team-high 18 points (8 in the fourth quarter) to go with 10 rebounds to lead Redan and Green finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds (6 in the fourth quarter). Bankhead finished with 9 points on three shots from behind the arc.
Kevin Wynn led Towers with 20 points and 7 rebounds while Jalen Kelly finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds and Domyius McFarland added 11 points and 5 rebounds.
Redan’s Londyn Felder goes in for layup for two of her 28 points in the Lady Raiders 51-29 win over the Towers Lady Titans. She had 16 points in the decisive fourth quarter. (Photo by Mark Brock)
GIRLS
Redan 51, Towers 29
The Redan Lady Raiders went on a 23-2 tear in the final 6:56 of the game led by Londyn Felder to take a 51-29 Region 5-2A girls’ basketball win over the Towers Lady Titans in the opener at Redan on Friday.
Makayla Coleman’s three-pointer with 7:41 to play pulled Towers within 28-27 but the Lady Titans (1-10, 1-4) managed just one basket the read of the way as Felder hit for 16 of the 23 points by Redan the rest of the way to close out the win.
Redan (2-9, 1-4) forced six turnovers over a span of two minutes following the Coleman three to score 10 points, all by Felder who had two steals in the time span.
Coleman cut the advantage to nine (38-29) with a drive at the 4:31 mark and it would be Towers’ last score of the game. Kaylan Whitfield and Felder pushed the lead back out to 13 (42-29) as two more steals turned into easy baskets for Redan.
Felder and Jasmian Merrick scored four points each in the final 2:52 to close out the 51-29 victory on their home floor.
Redan got out to an 11-2 lead after one quarter of play, but Paideia Vaughn opened the second period with a three-pointer and Coleman hit back-to-back shots from behind the arc to tie the game at 11-11 with 5:21 left in the first half.
Merrick answered with a three at the 3:05 mark to give Redan the lead back at 41-11. Aubri Brooks and Felder would add baskets to give Redan an 18-11 halftime lead.
Trailing 22-13 with 5:28 to play following Merrick steal and basket, Towers climbed back within 22-21 behind back-to-back threes by Vaughn and Coleman again. A Felder drive to the basket with 44 seconds left in the third quarter made it 28-24 with one period to play.
Felder finished the night with 28 points, Merrick added 9 points and 9 rebounds and Legend Williams pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Redan.
Towers got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Mikayla Coleman. Coleman hit four three-pointers on her way to the 18 points.