Bowsher Rebels run to win

Bowsher’s pace too much for Scott

Scott's Chris Harris, who had 34 points, tries to steal the ball from Bowsher's junior Jason Sandridge.

A typical night's action in the City League can make an official scorekeeper the busiest person in the gym.

Bowsher and Scott certainly kept the scorekeeper occupied on Friday night as the City League rivals combined for 193 points in a contest where the Rebels outran the Bulldogs to come away with a 99-94 victory.

Undefeated Bowsher outscored Scott 56-46 in the second half to improve to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the City League.

Aundre Kizer, a 6-foot-1 junior, led five Rebels in double figures by pumping in a team-high 30 points. Dajuan King, who was forced to sit out the first half for disciplinary reasons, poured in 23 points during the final two quarters.

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Nate Allen, a 6-3 junior, scored 16 points, including three 3-pointers, while fellow juniors Jason Sandridge and Cameron White finished with 13 points apiece in a game in which the Rebels went on a late 10-2 spurt down the stretch to come away the winner on their home court.

Scott, which was paced by six-foot junior guard Chris Harris' game-high 34 points, took a 48-43 lead into halftime.

However, Bowsher came out in the second half and actually turned up an already fast-paced tempo to a speed that Scott eventually couldn't keep up with down the stretch.

“The fact that we score a lot of points, we know we can score a lot of points in a hurry,” Bowsher coach Joe Guerrero said, regarding the second-half comeback. “Being down wasn't the concern. The concern was we had to play better and with more energy.”

Guerrero credited King, a 5-11 junior, with coming off the bench in the second half and giving the Rebels a noticeable lift with his effort.

“When Dajuan came in the second half he gave us a lot of energy on defense and that was the story of the game,” Guerrero said.

Watching the first half on the bench left King anxious to get on the court to try and help his team in the second half.

“I was just motivated to play,” King said.

Plenty of players on both teams, many of which are underclassmen, showed they came to play in the first meeting of the season between the two league rivals.

Chris Darrington, a 5-11 sophomore guard, pumped in 22 points for Scott (0-3, 0-2) while 6-2 freshman Jay Wells came off the Bulldogs bench to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds.

“I thought we did pretty good, but we're young,” Scott coach Chris Dames said. “We're really inexperienced, so we knew it would be bumpy. This is a heck of an environment.”

The Bulldogs started fast and came out of the first quarter with a 27-19 lead against the Rebels. Scott created many of its baskets by applying fullcourt pressure on Bowsher and turning the ensuring turnovers into breakaway layups.

But they couldn't sustain their edge and momentum through the second half, particularly with the Rebels getting the lift from King.

“[Losing is] going to hurt for a minute, but we really don't have time to recoup because we have Central Catholic [tonight],” Dames said. “It doesn't get any easier.

“Hopefully come tournament time it will all pay off.”

The Rebels started to take control of the game in the third quarter when they outscored the Bulldogs 28-23, leading to a score tied at 71 heading into the fourth.

Bowsher outscored Scott 28-23 in the final quarter to keep an unblemished record.

“We know the season is young,” Guerrero said. “We just have to get better every game, every practice, and that's what we're going to try to do.”

Contact donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.