The Boyd Broncos took their first road trip of the season Tuesday night and visited the Tigers of DeKalb County. The Tigers ultimately won the contest 55-42 as the Broncos could not overcome the self-inflicted deficit they created before halftime.
The game opened in favor of Boyd as the Broncos quickly jumped out to a 8-2 lead within the first few minutes behind more sharpshooting from point guard Trey Cantrell. He connected on two 3-pointers and drove for a couple of more buckets during the opening period.
However, the Tigers quickly adjusted their defense to counter Cantrell’s barrage by shadowing him and denying him the ball. Broncos Isaiah Blanton and Jalen Reno filled in the gap that was created by adding another four points but it wasn’t enough as DeKalb took a 15-14 lead into the second quarter.
The Broncos went ice cold in the second frame. Cantrell was totally shut out and Tyler Beaty would score his only two points of the game. With Blanton adding another three pointer, the Broncos could only muster five total points in those eight minutes while DeKalb had balanced scoring and put up 13 to take a 28-19 advantage into halftime.
This nine-point difference would prove crucial in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers came out looking to finish off the Broncos early in the third with a modified, full-court trap which caught Boyd off guard and resulted in some easy buckets for DeKalb.
Before Boyd coach Lucas Majors could get his team back under control, the Tigers had built that nine-point halftime lead up to 20 points. The Broncos finally made a run at the end of the quarter behind another 3-pointer from Cantrell, five more points from Blanton and a bucket from Ethan Phillips to end the frame 47-29 in favor of DeKalb County.
The late surge in the third by Boyd carried over into the fourth as they would outscore Dekalb 13-8 in the final eight minutes. The Broncos cut the 18-point, third-quarter deficit back to the nine-point halftime deficit with three minutes to go behind another couple of 3's by Cantrell, a 3-pointer by Tyler Pomales and another bucket from both Blanton and Reno.
But it was too little too late to dig out of such a deep hole as DeKalb was able to convert at the charity stripe when Boyd was forced to intentionally foul to try and preserve game clock.
Bronco scoring -- Trey Cantrell 19, Isaiah Blanton 13, Jalen Reno 3, Tyler Pomales 3, Tyler Beaty 2, Ethan Phillips 2