Belgreen wins area, falls in subregion

The Belgreen Bulldogs upset the Covenant Christian Eagles 32-31 to win the Class 2A Area 14 tournament championship.

Braycen Johnson accounted for over half Belgreen’s 32 points in the win scoring 18.

Covenant Christian led Belgreen 8-6 at the end of the first period but Belgreen battled back in the second quarter to take a 14-13 halftime lead.

The Eagles tied the game in the third quarter 25-25, but Belgreen emerged victorious in the fourth quarter.

Jonathan Mendoza and Hunter Woodruff were the only other Bulldogs to score with 8 points and 6 points, respectively.

Subregion

The Belgreen Bulldogs saw their tournament run come to an end with a heartbreaking 61-52 overtime loss to the Sulligent Blue Devils.

Despite leading for a majority of the game, the Bulldogs couldn’t hold off a late surge from Sulligent, which forced an overtime and ultimately secured the victory.

Sulligent held a slim 9-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Belgreen responded in the second, outscoring the Blue Devils 17-11 to take a 23-20 advantage into halftime. The Bulldogs extended their lead in the third quarter, pushing it to 43-32. Jonathan Mendoza was instrumental in Belgreen’s third-quarter surge, scoring 12 points, including two threepointers.

However, Sulligent refused to go down without a fight. The Blue Devils battled back in the fourth quarter, outscoring Belgreen 19-7 to tie the game and send it into overtime. The momentum had clearly shifted, and Sulligent capitalized, outscoring Belgreen 10-2 in the extra period to seal the win.

Mendoza led Belgreen in scoring with 25 points, including his impressive third-quarter performance. Braycen Johnson also reached double figures with 13 points, while Jake Dill added 10, connecting on two threepointers in the second quarter. Rush Berryman and Hunter Woodruff each contributed 2 points for Belgreen.