The J.Z. George Jaguars battled back from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter to fall just short in a 73-68 loss to Charleston in prep basketball action.
The game was tied at 16-16 after the first quarter. The Jaguars outscored Charleston 16-15 in the second quarter and led 32-31 at the half.
The Jaguars’ offense went cold in the third quarter and the Tigers took advantage. Charleston outscored J.Z. George 24-7 in the third quarter and led 55-39 at the break.
Charleston went up by 21 points in the fourth quarter. Then the Jaguars came back. They would outscore the Tigers 29-18 and almost pulled out the win.
“I was really proud of our kids’ effort,” J.Z. George coach Jonathan Childs said. “They could have quit but they never gave up. They kept playing until the end.”
Malik Branch led with 27 points. The Jaguars’ record dropped to 6-12 with the loss.
The Jaguars had two games scheduled this week. However, Tuesday’s match up with Yazoo County was postponed due to the weather. J.Z. George is still scheduled to host East Webster on Friday. These teams met earlier in the season with East Webster taking a 76-48 victory.
“We are continuing to show improvement,” coach Childs said. “The kids are working hard in practice. This is a young team and if we can continue to progress, we should be very competitive with the region tournament comes around.
The J.Z. George girls lost their game to Charleston. No information was available to report.
