James M. Bennett boy’s basketball serves Wi-Hi first Bayside loss of the season
SALISBURY, Md. – James M. Bennett boy’s basketball toppled Wi-Hi 71-65 Thursday night in Salisbury.
The Tribe started hot, jumping out to a 20-11 lead that became 23-16 at the end of the first quarter. Of Wi-Hi’s 23 points in the first frame, 12 of them came from senior Vic Collins, who finished with 23 to lead his team.
Momentum shifted as the game moved closer to halftime, with Bennett outscoring Wi-Hi by a margin of 13 to lead 39-33 at the break.
The wave that the Clippers rode into half only grew at the start of the third. In the opening 3:15 of the quarter, Bennett outscored the home team 12 to 3, with a three-pointer from freshman Khiyen Tilghman putting JMB ahead 52-37 with 4:45 remaining in the period.
From there, the needle turned back to the Tribe. Wi-Hi chipped away to trail by ten heading into the fourth quarter at 58-48. A 9-0 run capped by a Demar Brunson three brought the Tribe within one with five minutes to play. As Bennett tried to hold Wi-Hi at bay, the Tribe again drew within one point a minute later at 59-60 thanks to a Tyson Hayward fast-break bucket.
Clutch baskets from James Matthews, Kyler Dickerson, and Jayden Wallace helped the Clippers pull away in the final two minutes of the game and hand Wi-Hi its first Bayside loss of the season.
James M. Bennett was led in scoring by Khiyen Tilghman with 24 points and Kyler Dickerson with 19.
“We’re a young team and we’re trying to find our identity still,” Bennett Head Coach Bubby Brown said after the game, “and I think this is the game we finally found it. Being an alumni from here, this is a tough place to win, so for my boys to come out here, face adversity with this crowd, this is a great win for us.”
With his team having dropped three of its last four heading into Thursday’s contest, Coach Brown observed that the Clippers showed a special kind of fight in the cross-town rivalry game that had perhaps been lacking in recent losses. “I know we got some grit, I know we got some toughness and I think we finally got it out of them.”
