The Bees kept the Broncos lead to two points or less for the first three quarters of the game and started the 4th quarter with a Scott Masin two that tied the game at 36-36. The tie must have woke up the Broncos as they started to utilize the size inside with 6’9” sophomore Adriean Payne and 6’5” Rondale Beard and that spelled the beginning of the end for the Bees.

Payne did not make much of an offensive impact the first three quarters of the game. He score 2 points in the second quarter and sat the bench in the 3rd with foul trouble. However on defense he altered and swatted his share of shots in the lane that kept the Bees from scoring from close range.

That changed in the 4th quarter when Payne began with a 10 foot jumper and on the next possession he was fouled and made his first attempt from the free throw line. The second attempt missed and the Broncos came up with the basketball. In the scramble for the ball Payne received a pass for a team mate and took one dribble on the baseline and slammed it two handed to rattle the rafters. The five point swing gave Jefferson the lead 41-36.

Jefferson didn’t do anything that impressive offensively the 4th quarter as much as causing chaos prohibiting the Bees from being successful on offense. The Broncos front court of Jared Nolan and Dwayne Sanders did a good job on keeping the pressure on the Bees and in desperation to make up points with the game at hand in the waning minutes, the Bees coughed up the ball for points in transition for Jefferson.

Sanders started the final run for the Broncos with a trey that spurred a 15 to 4 run that sealed the Bee’s fate and advanced the Broncos to a date with Southeastern in the sectional finals. The Bees never gave up and fought to the end but the 4th quarter burst by the Broncos couldn’t be matched.

The good news for Bethel is that they have everyone back for next year. The have all the tools necessary with great guards, shooting and enough size inside to be a very successful team next year in the Cross County Conference.

Scoring by quarters
Jefferson…15…23…35…57
Bethel……12 …21…34…40

Jefferson
Beard – 10
Cole – 2
Johnson – 2
Nichols – 2
Nolan – 10
Payne – 10
Robinson – 5
Sanders – 16

Bethel
Samuel – 4
James – 6
Kley – 2
Masin – 10
McIntosh – 2
Sutton – 7
Walters – 1
Yates – 8