AMERICUS – It took two overtime periods to decide it, but the 11u Jazz were able to pull out a 38-34 victory over the 11u Warriors on Saturday, June 30, at the Dwight Harris Boys Club Basketball Summer League played at Ninth Grade Academy.

“All of the guys played hard. I think the other team came out with a little more intensity,” 11u Jazz Head Coach Reggie Jones said. “It took us a while to get started, but our guys came together and played really hard. They did really good.”

The Warriors jumped out to a 14-7 lead to start the game. That would be the score at halftime. Jaseph Jordan led the Warriors in the first half with seven points. Marion Willoughby and Austin Davis each had three first-half points, and Kendrell Butler scored one free throw. Jaylen Terry led the Jazz in the first half with three points, and both Keaston Taylor and Covery Hill each scored two points. However, the Jazz went on an 8-0 run to start the second half, taking the lead at 15-14. Kendrell Butler then gave the Warriors a 16-15 lead with a basket. From then on, it was back-and-forth between the two teams.

With the Warriors leading 21-18 with 1:33 to go in regulation, Jaylen Terry was fouled while attempting a three-pointer. He made all three free throws to tie the score at 21-21. Then with 1:24 to go in regulation, Ishmael Jones of the Jazz was fouled while shooting and made both free throws, giving the Jazz a 23-21 lead. Marion Willoughby was fouled while shooting and made both his free throws, tying the score at 23-23. With under a minute left, the Jazz took the lead when Covery Hill scored to give the Jazz a 25-23 lead. Willoughby was fouled on the Warriors’ next possession, but was only able to make one free throw. The Jazz maintained a 25-24 lead with time running down in regulation. Hill Was fouled and made one of two free throws, extending the Jazz’ lead to 26-24. With 15.4 seconds left in regulation, Jaseph Jordan was able to tie the score at 26-26. With three seconds left in regulation, Jaylen Terry had a chance to give the Jazz the lead and, most likely, the win. However, he missed a short layup and the game would go into overtime tied 26-26.

Covery Hill scored the first basket in overtime to give the 11u Jazz a 28-26 lead. The Warriors responded when Jaseph Jordan drove coast to coast for a layup to tie the score at 28-28.

With 1:10 remaining in the first overtime period, the Warriors had the ball, but the Jazz were able to get a steal and call timeout with the score tied 28-28. Out of the timeout, the Jazz had the ball and Covery Hill was fouled, giving him a chance to give the Jazz a two-point lead. However, Hill missed both free throws. The Jazz would regain the lead on a basket by Ishmael Jones. Jordan responded with another layup, and the score was once again tied at 30-30.

Then with 19.1 seconds in overtime, Jaylen Terry scored to give the 11u Jazz a 32-30 lead. However, Jaseph Jordan was fouled with 15 seconds left in the overtime. Jordan made both free throws, tying the score at 32-32. Neither team was able to get a deciding basket, and the game went into a second overtime period.

Jaylen Terry scored the first basket in the second overtime to give the Jazz a 34-32 lead. With 1:00 to go in the second overtime, Covery Hill was fouled and made one of two free throws, giving the Jazz a 35-32 lead. The Warriors had the ball with 53.6 seconds left when Jaseph Jordan was fouled. He made both free throws to cut the Jazz’ lead to 35-34. Then with 40.1 seconds left, Ishmael Jones scored to give the Jazz a 37-34 lead. With 29.5 seconds left, the Warriors had a chance to cut their deficit to one point. However, Antrone Grant missed both free throws. The Jazz had the ball, and Ishmael Jones was fouled. Jones made one of two free throws, giving the Jazz a 38-34 lead and a hard-fought, double-overtime win.

Jaylen Terry led the Jazz with 13 points and Ishmael Jones scored 11. Covery Hill scored eight points. Keaston Taylor ended up with four points and Christopher Luster scored two. For the Warriors, they were led in scoring by Jaseph Jordan’s 21 points to lead all scorers. Marion Willoughby scored seven points and both Austin Davis and Kendrell Butler each scored three points.