The Kermit Blue Devils and Gilbert Lions played a classic on Monday night, but ultimately it was the Blue Devils pull out a hard fought 53-50 win in a fantastic showing for both teams at Kermit Middle School.
In a back and forth game, the Blue Devils jumped out to a slim 10-9 first quarter lead. The two teams played evenly in the second period as Kermit maintained a 19-18 lead at the intermission.
The Lions outscored Kermit, 14-11, in the fourth quarter to take a 32-30 lead heading into the final quarter. There, Kermit would be able to tie it up and send it to overtime tied, 41-41.
In the first overtime, Gibert held a 49-48 lead in the closing seconds when Lleyton Brumfield was fouled and stepped to the line for two shots. He missed the first shot but made the second to send the game into a second overtime with the scored tied at 49-49.
The score remained the same until late in the second overtime when Brumfield pulled down an offensive rebound and scored while being fouled. He missed the free throw, making it a 51-49 game with 1:18 left on the clock.
Gilbert had a chance to tie the game with 6.4 seconds remaining when Jeremiah Cline stepped to the line for two shots. Cline missed the first but made the second. The Lions then fouled Kermit’s Darian Vance with 3.1 seconds left. Vance made both of his free throws and Gilbert’s desperation heave was off the mark as Kermit won a thrilling game.
Vance led the Blue Devils with 17 points. Brumfield and Bryson Richardson followed with 11 points each. Alex Serrano added 9 points. Kooper Sturgill finished with 5 points.
For Gilbert, Conner New led all scorers with 30 points. Brady Christian followed with 15 points. Braylen New and Owen Lester netted 2 points each. Cline finished with 1 point.
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