Boyd leads Owls to OT win over Mustangs

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Ooltewah's Jarek Boyd proved to be a big matchup problem in the post area for Walker Valley in a District 5-AAA boys' high school basketball game Tuesday at Walker Valley. But the problem wasn't Boyd's size so much as his quickness.

Because of Boyd's ability to move around and find spaces in the lane and along the baseline, he managed to draw a lot of contact. And none of his 12 made free throws was bigger than the one that capped a three-point play with 4.5 seconds to go in overtime that lifted the Owls to a 67-66 victory.

Boyd got a feed from a penetrating Edward Hayes for the basket. He then shot his 18th free throw of the game after a Walker Valley timeout and made it for his 28th point.

"Jarek had been calling for it on the block," Ooltewah coach Tank Montgomery said. "He just made a move and it worked."

Walker Valley also had a post player give the Owls plenty of problems in junior Lipscomb University commitment Kenny Bunton, a transfer from East Hamilton. He had all eight of the Mustangs' points in the first quarter and scored 12 of their first 13.

However, with 10.3 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Bunton took a spill on the offensive end of the court and began writhing and screaming in pain. He was eventually taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The preliminary diagnosis is that he dislocated his right hip.

"I've never seen that happen before," Walker Valley coach Bob Williams said. "I've seen shoulders dislocated, but never a hip. He was playing so good at the time, too. We were going to him."

Bunton totaled 17 points before he was carried from the court with the Owls leading 40-33. At the time, no teammate had more than six. But his teammates picked up their play the rest of the game.

"Commend them," Montgomery said. "When their warrior went down, they fought. I knew they would. I knew those guys wouldn't lay down."

Cooper Melton's two free throws with 0.9 second remaining sent the game to overtime for Walker Valley (3-5, 0-2). But it was Josh Jones who was most instrumental in the comeback.

He scored 10 of his 17 points in the last 3:02 of regulation, including two 3-point goals. The second was a deep one with a little less than half a minute to play that pulled his team within two.

The Mustangs, who watched Ooltewah (5-4, 1-1) run off seven consecutive points when the game was tied at 2, never led until Zach Eslinger's rebound basket made it 59-58. They stretched that lead to four, but the Owls outscored them 8-3 in the last 1:44 of the extra period. Walker Valley's Sean Conway overshot a 3-point shot from the right corner at the buzzer.

"I was proud of the comeback and fighting," Williams said. "We kept scrapping. We had opportunities. We just didn't capitalize."

Hayes added 12 points for the Owls, who went 19-for-33 from the free-throw line but 10-for-21 from the fourth quarter on until making their last two.

Melton scored 11 points for the Mustangs, who made 16 of 22 free throws.

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.

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