HS boys basketball: Attucks holds off Tindley 66-65

Crispus Attucks junior guard Teyon Scanlan was forced to the bench for most of the second half against Tindley with four fouls Thursday night.

But when he finally got his chance again, he made it count. Scanlan came up with Attucks’ biggest shot of the night when he drained a 3-pointer with 2:30 remaining in the game to push the lead to four points, and Attucks went on to capture a hard-fought 66-65 nonconference win.

Attucks (14-4), ranked ninth in Class 3A, needed a bit of luck at the end, too. With Attucks leading by two points with 3 seconds to play, Tindley’s Hunter White drove the length of the court and was fouled putting up a shot with three-tenths of a second to play.

White made the first free throw to cut the lead to one, but Attucks interim coach Melvin Baird called a timeout to ice White. His plan worked, as White missed the second free throw and Attucks hung on for the win.

Tindley, ranked No. 4 in Class A, dropped to 14-5.

“I told them during the timeout that we needed to box out,” Baird said. “I didn’t want them to get a chance at a tip-in on a missed shot. (White’s) a great player, but we wanted to put all of our chips in.”

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Scanlan finished with a game-high 19 points, 16 of which came in the first half before he sat with foul trouble. He finished with five 3-pointers.

“I never had any doubt that he would make the shot,” Baird said. “He’s capable of going for 30 or 40 points every night. He’s a great kid.”

Early on, it didn’t appear the game would come down to last-second dramatics. Attucks jumped out to a 20-5 first-quarter lead and led 30-20 early in the second quarter. Attucks shot 10-of-17 from the field in the first quarter.

But Tindley kept chipping away and used an 8-0 run late in the third quarter to take a 51-50 lead with less than a minute to play in the quarter.

It was close down the stretch. Tied at 60, Attucks junior guard Nike Sibande hit a 3 to give his team a 63-60 lead with 2:58 to play. Sophomore Eric Hunter followed with a pair of free throws to cut the lead to one point, which led to Scanlan’s 3-pointer on the next Attucks possession to make it 66-62.

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Hunter also had a chance to tie the score with about 10 seconds remaining but missed.

“One free throw wasn’t the difference,” Tindley coach Bob Wonnell said. “You lose the game when you spot them a 20-5 lead. I thought Hunter White did a courageous job to get it from the base line to the basket. He left it all out there and took a chance.”

Four players scored in double figures for Attucks. Sibande scored 13, senior guard Dorain Moore added 12 and senior wing Saumeik Rolle chipped in 11 points.

“We’re a very deep team,” Baird said. “A lot of kids have been practicing their butts off, and they were rewarded because of foul trouble. I’m so glad they got that opportunity.”

Hunter, who came in averaging about 26 points, finished with 15 for Tindley, while sophomore guard K.J. Coleman added 17 points.

CRISPUS ATTUCKS 66, TINDLEY 65

Attucks   27   12  13  14  –  66

Tindley   19   15  17  14  –  65

Tindley (14-5) – White 14, Johnson 2, Coleman 17, Crenshaw 12, Hunter 15, Murff 4, Young 1. Totals 24 12-21 65.Crispus

Attucks (14-4) – Scanlan 19, Sibande 13, Rolle 11, Reed 7, Moore 12, Poole 4. Totals 25 4-9 66.

3-Point goals: Attucks 12 (Scanlan 5, Rolle 3, Sibande 2, Reed, Moore), Tindley 5 (Coleman 4, White).