May River boys basketball dug out from an early hole to take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter Friday against Lucy Beckham, but the visiting Bengals rode the hot hand of Noah Bailes to a 49-46 win in a Region 7-4A matchup.
Bailes made four 3-pointers and scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to flip the script on the Sharks’ comeback after falling in a 10-1 hole out of the gate. May River clawed back within 18-13 by the end of the quarter, and Garvin Douglas scored seven of his team-high 17 points in the second quarter as the Sharks trimmed the margin to 27-25 at halftime.
Douglas stayed hot with six points in the third quarter, and the Sharks locked down on defense to hold the Bengals to five points and take a 37-32 lead. But Bailes kept knocking down shots to keep Beckham in it, and the Bengals took a two-point lead in the final minute.
May River’s James Layman hit a jumper from the elbow with 22 seconds left to pull even at 46, but Bailes got free in the corner on an inbounds play under the Bengals’ basket and drained his fourth 3-pointer of the night to seal it.
“We did a really poor job with our attention to detail defensively,” May River coach Matt Whitmore said. “Our gameplan execution and footwork on closeouts were not where they need to be.”
Douglas finished with 17 points, while Layman and Gavin Blocker added nine each for May River.
The Sharks (9-5, 3-2) will look to bounce back quickly with a trip to face region-leading Beaufort High on Tuesday.
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