A rivalry game following a 17-day break may not have been a good idea after all for the North Pike Jaguars.
The Jaguars suffered their first loss of the season Friday night, 73-48 to the Class 5A Brookhaven Panthers at the North Pike gym.
North Pike (2-1) got off to a slow start, falling behind 15-1 in the first quarter and could never recover.
“We started off sluggish,” said North Pike head coach Keith Russ, whose Jaguars had not played since their 46-44 win at Tylertown on Nov. 17. “We got a little bit caught up in the game. Brookhaven is a big rivalry. We just got caught up in the moment.”
Brookhaven got consecutive three-pointers from Kristoff Bates to open what would quickly become a 15-1 lead.
The Jaguars scored their first four points from the foul line, missed their first six shots and did not hit a bucket until Jeremiah Jordan’s reverse layup got North Pike to within 15-6 with 3:37 left in the opening period.
North Pike shot just 28 percent (16-of-56) from the field. The Jaguars struggled from the foul line as well, hitting just half of their 30 free throws.
“Shots around the baskets killed us,” Russ said. “Our free-throw shooting killed us, too.”
Two Ferrand Jenkins free throws cut the margin to 15-8, but Brookhaven took over in the second period.
Rajavion Stewart hit a pair of first-half three-pointers, the second coming with 4:04 left in the first half to stretch the Panthers’ lead to 27-16. Brookhaven led 35-25 at the half.
Erick Allen’s three-pointer from the left wing was North Pike’s only score in an 11-3 Panthers’ run that stretched Brookhaven’s lead to 46-28.
LeMichael Quin did his best to keep the Jaguars close. After fielding the inbounds pass under the Brookhaven basket, Quin was fouled while driving the right baseline. His two free throws pulled North Pike to within 50-34 with 2:46 left in the third quarter. Quin finished with 20 points to lead the Jaguars.
But the Panthers closed the third with an emphatic answer when Stewart sent a backdoor pass to the left baseline that led to post player Fred Fairman’s slam-dunk and a 56-37 Brookhaven lead.
Stewart added a three-pointer from the top of the key followed by a pair of free throws to extend the margin to 66-42.
“Things just didn’t go our way,” Russ said after the loss.
Jordan added seven points for the Jaguars.
