Ninth-seeded Brother Martin, 23-9, finished its season on Tuesday night in a nail biting 47-46 loss to West Jefferson.
At the start of the game, the teams were neck and neck, but by halftime, the Crusaders found themselves trailing by four points. The Buccaneers scored 14 points in the third quarter to open up the game, but the Crusaders came close as they chipped away at the lead in the final eight minutes.
Brother Martin guard Venjie Wallis came up with a steal and converted it into a field goal to cut West Jeff’s lead to three points with 1:10 remaining. On the next Buccaneer possession, West Jefferson scored on a put back shot after securing the offensive rebound to increase their lead to 46-41. Jared West answered back by grabbing a steal and sinking his two free throws to narrow the deficit back to three points.
In the final 20 seconds, the Buccaneers hit the first shot in a one-and-one situation to give West Jefferson a decisive 47-43 lead.
Brother Martin’s Venjie Wallis nailed a three-pointer with five seconds remaining, but the Crusaders found themselves without any timeouts. The Buccaneers would hold the ball out of bounds rather than attempt an inbound play for the final ticks of the clock.
Senior Venjie Wallis paced Brother Martin by scoring 14 points, and Tre’ Swilling added 13 points of his own.
Brother Martin finished the season with a 23-9 overall record and a 7-3 district record.
Photo courtesy of Advocate staff photographer Sherri Miller.
