The Preston Pirate varsity basketball team’s bid for a sixth Gold Ball will have to wait at least one more year.
The Pirates made an early exit from the Class 2A state basketball championships Wednesday evening with a 50-47 loss to the Hooker Bulldogs.
The opening-round defeat to the third-ranked Bulldogs ends Preston’s 2023-2024 season three wins shy of a sixth state championship in school history and first since 2009.
The narrow loss to Hooker ends the Pirates’ season at 25-5 and ranked fifth in Class 2A and also brings to a close the high school basketball careers of senior standouts Jervais Goree and Giorgio Dunn-Spencer.
The senior duo combined for 40 of the team’s 47 points in Wednesday’s quarterfinal showdown with Hooker, including 19 of the Pirates’ 20 points in the second half.
Goree led the Pirates offensively in the season-ending loss with 27, followed by Dunn-Spencer with 13. Jayden Smith and Pheonix Finch rounded out the Preston scoring on Wednesday with four and three points, respectively.
The Pirates held a 16-11 advantage after the first eight minutes of regulation and took a 2723 lead into halftime after Hooker escaped the second period with a narrow 12-11 margin.
A low-scoring third quarter went in favor of the Bulldogs, 7-6, to make it a 33-30 Preston advantage with eight minutes left in regulation.
In the final minute of regulation, Hooker used a 16-9 run for a 4-point advantage – 46-42. With 32 seconds remaining in the fourth period, Dunn-Spencer calmly sank three free throws to cut the deficit to one, 46-45. Hooker made two charity tosses with 21.1 seconds left for a 48-45 lead, while Dunn-Spencer cut the deficit to one (48-47) once again with a pair of free throws with 12.3 seconds remaining.
With 9.1 seconds left in regulation, the Bulldogs doubled their lead to 49-47 with a free throw. Preston head coach Chase Littlejohn called a timeout with 6.9 seconds remaining to set up the possible final play of regulation. After the timeout, a Hooker defender stole the inbound pass, forcing the Preston defense to commit a foul with three seconds left on the gameclock.
The Hooker free throw shooter made the back end of a 2-shot foul attempt to make it a 50-47 advantage, while the Pirates’ buzzer-beating shot attempt from half court was short of the mark to put the Preston squad on the short end of a 50-47 setback.
— Class 2A State Tournament Quarterfinals
Hooker 50, Preston 47
Hooker: 11 – 12 – 7 – 20 (50) Preston: 16 – 11 – 6 – 14 (47) Preston Scoring: Jervais Goree 27, Giorgio Dunn-Spencer 13, Jayden Smith 4, Pheonix Finch 3.
