Lions Roar Past Bulldogs In Home Opener

Three minutes can mean a lot in a basketball game. 

Such proved to be the case in last night’s Gateway Athletic North Conference contest between the Bulldogs and the Lions at Fort Zumwalt East. East outscored South 9-6 in the last three minutes to earn a 53-50 win. 

Free throws proved to be key in the contest, as the Lions went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in the last three minutes. 

“It’s the difference, we had some kids that stepped up and made some shots,” East coach Terry Johnson said. “I’ll have to hand it to our kids in playing that hard.”  

Joshua Ross led East in scoring with 18 points. Collin Zurweller had 11 points. Zurweller nailed the last two free throws with 15 ticks left on the clock to make the score 53-50. 

“I was pretty happy,” Zurweller said. “I did what I could to help the team and I tried to relax and shoot the free throw.” 

South coach Bill Friedel said he expected close game. 

“We only have one starter (George Cater) back,” he said. “I think East can get close to 15 wins. It doesn’t shock me that East would knock this one off. Their older kids played better than our younger kids. They hit 20 free throws and we hit eight. They also attacked the basket strong.”  

The Lions established control of the contest early, as they held an 8-2 lead at the 3:59 mark in the first quarter.

“I thought we set a tone from the very beginning that we were going to play hard,” Johnson said.  “I thought we did a good job on Cater. He had some big shots but had to work for every one of them.” 

But the tide would turn, as Cater’s three at the 3:34 mark kicked off a 6-2 Bulldog run which cut East’s lead to three points at the 5:08 mark, as East led 10-7.  Perimeter shooting was big in the run, as Brett Sugar’s three gave South its seventh point. 

East continued to control the lead throughout the first quarter. The Lions held a 15-12 lead at the end of the quarter. Gerrion Grim’s basket at the 2:53 mark in the second quarter tied the contest up at 20 points. Preston Whitfield’s basket at the 2:40 mark have South a 22-20 lead, its first of the game. The Bulldogs led 22-21 at halftime. 

Cater, who led South’s offense with 23 points, nailed a three 30 seconds into the second half to give South a 25-21 lead. Ross answered Cater’s three with a three of his own to make the score 25-24 South. Neither team could score in the next three minutes, as both teams committed two turnovers and failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Johnson agreed that South’s swarming zone defense was a challenge in the third quarter. 

“We were having a tough time getting the ball in the post,” he said. “But we have some guys who can penetrate.”  

The Lions held a 34-32 advantage at the end of the third quarter.