Crestview turns back Laurel Hill comeback bid

LAUREL HILL — Crestview’s Tristin Linville hit eight consecutive free throws in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs held off Laurel Hill to take a 69-57 win in boys basketball action Thursday night.

Crestview (13-11) used a smothering defense to force 16 Hobo turnovers in the first half as the Bulldogs built what seemed to be a commanding 39-25 lead at the intermission.

But anyone counting out the homestanding Hoboes (15-8) on Senior Night was in for a surprise.

Issaic Williams scored 10 of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter for the Hoboes and the Bulldog offense only scored six points as Laurel Hill clawed its way back.

“We came out in the start of the third quarter and thought it was over with,” Bulldog coach Keith White said. “If we can’t score baskets, we can’t get in our press to force the turnovers and score. They got some easy buckets and got some momentum going.”

With 30 seconds left in the quarter, Williams drove the lane for a basket and was fouled. He made the free throw to finish off the three-point play, pulling Laurel Hill to within a point of Crestview.

Back-to-back 3-point baskets by Antryun Coleman and Shykeem Jackson midway through the fourth quarter pushed the Bulldog lead back to eight points and marked the end of the Laurel Hill comeback.

Jackson’s 3-pointer gave him a team-best 16 points. He was only Bulldog to score in double figures. Ethan Jackson added 14 points for Laurel Hill.

Late in the game, Laurel Hill was forced to foul in hopes that the Bulldogs would miss their free throws. The strategy seemed to work when Crestview missed the first three attempts on the front end of a one-and-one. But the Bulldogs grabbed the rebounds and made sure Linville got the ball in his hands.

“Our focus was to keep our turnovers down in the second half and to keep them down to five or six, and at the same time attack the basket when they were attacking us defensively,” Laurel Hill coach Kent Zessin said. “We made some adjustments on attacking the press and it worked out well. We were pecking away at it and cut it to one. But they hit the two 3s there in the fourth quarter and then they hit the free throws in the end.”