A tale of two halves might be the best way to describe the district meeting between Heidelberg and Bay Springs. The first half of the contest featured eight lead changes between the two teams. The second half, however, was dominated by one team, that team being the Heidelberg Oilers as they outscored Bay Springs 23-5 in the third quarter to pick up a key district victory 66-41 led by Donovan Parker’s team-high 33 points.
“We’ve been rolling with Parker since he was in the ninth grade. He’s had his ups and downs, but he is playing high I.Q basketball now and is where we want him to be at,” said Heidelberg head coach Billy Wright on Parker’s big night.
Both teams fought back-and-forth in the first period as they exchanged leads. Senior Bulldog Anthony Wheaton connected on back-to-back buckets early to give Bay Springs a 9-6 lead. Heidelberg connected with two quick buckets of their own to tie things right back up, but a Malik Holliday three put Bay Springs back in front 14-11. Randarius Hughes made his presence known before the first-period buzzer sounded, nailing a shot to put the Oilers up 17-16 as the period closed.
Bay Springs regained the lead quickly to start the second period, extending their lead to four until Parker nailed two buckets to draw the Oilers even 21-21. Both teams traded jabs throughout the second period, swapping the lead four times, however, Parker was fouled, drawing an and-one near the end of the second period to give Heidelberg a 32-28 lead as they went to halftime.
Parker did not cool off during the break as he scored Heidelberg’s first six points of the third period while Heidelberg went on a 9-0 run before sophomore Bulldog Cartize Booth could slow the bleeding with a bucket for Bay Springs. The bleeding would not stop, however, as Parker and company started another run, going on a 14-0 run until Bay Springs hit two baskets to close out the third quarter. Parker ended the third period having scored 13 of his 33 in the period.
Heidelberg cruised during the final period as Parker scored another nine points in the quarter while Bay Springs’ Tremayne Wheaton scored six points in the quarter for the Bulldogs, but it was to no avail as Heidelberg cruised to the 66-41 win.
“One of their best players wasn’t out there tonight [Chad Jones], so we tried to box in Anthony [Wheaton]. We got some steals later in the game, and we came out playing better overall in the second half. Parker really was rolling tonight. and Hughes had some rebounds,” said Wright on his team’s performance.
Hughes ended his night with four points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Parker finished with 33 points, two rebounds, and two steals. Quandarius Bender had 14 points, three steals, and one rebound.
