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Thompson's 18 points leads Statesville Middle to upset win over Brawley
Bruce Matlock
Statesville Middle School's Kender Thompson (15) comes up with the ball while Brawley Middle School's Jason Ward (24) comes up empty handed.
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Published: February 9, 2010
TROUTMAN - Brawley's boys were going for the perfect season, but it was Statesville Middle that secured the perfect ending.
The No. 3 seed in the four-team bracket, the Bulldogs (9-5) played fast and aggressive from the start to stun the Braves 60-54 in the Iredell-Statesville Schools tournament championship.
"They've been through some adversity," Bulldogs coach Chris Torrence said. "But they've worked hard, and they wanted it. They believed in each other and got it done."
Kender Thompson led Statesville with 18 points and ran the show on offense. He hit 3-pointers when open, and got into the lane for short floaters.
And when the Braves turned up the pressure on defense, Thompson kept the Bulldogs in the clear and routinely found the open man on fastbreaks.
"Kender is one of our eighth-graders and he's been a great leader," Torrence said. "He really is the key performer."
Thompson had help, too.
Jartavious Bowman finished with 13 points and A.J. Peele had 10.
Brawley (13-1) also had a pair of double-figure scorers, but both were relegated to the bench at times due to foul trouble.
Jason Ward finished with 19 points in about 15 minutes of court time and Nick White added 11 points.
Both players are posts and gave the Bulldogs serious problems down low when in the game at the same time.
"We got our big men in foul trouble," Braves coach John Sherrill said. "Jason and Nick have both had great seasons, but they had to sit too long tonight."
Brawley led most of the first quarter and into the second. Peele made two free throws with four minutes left in the first half that put Statesville up 20-18. The Bulldogs never trailed again.
The lead was seven at halftime and it stretched to 11 midway through the third quarter, but the Braves never wilted.
They got as close as two points in a game that, played at a break-neck pace, was one of the most entertaining in the county this season — on any level.
"I was still confident the whole game," Sherrill said. "But when we got shots we needed, we didn't finish. We missed a few layups and the front end of a one-and-one."
Thompson's contested lay-up with 90 seconds left gave the Bulldogs a five-point lead and added breathing room, and Statesville minimized the turnovers late to hang on for the win.
"It was a big boost for them to be up at halftime, and they carried it over," Torrence said. "Lately, we've been finishing games and we had to do that again tonight."
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