BETHANY — On a night where Bethany senior Denton Jaggers was named homecoming king, the senior swatted a away a last-second Ardmore shot to give the Bronchos a 56-54 win Friday (Feb. 13).

Jaggers’ big block came after the Tigers nearly erased a 17-point lead with five minutes left in the game. Ardmore took advantage of Bethany fouls and the Bronchos struggled at the free throw line in the final quarter.

Bethany clung to a 55-54 lead with ten seconds left. After two missed free throws from sophomore Dempsey Neal, senior Jagger Weaver intercepted a pass on the other end. Weaver was fouled and he hit the second of two free throws to make it 56-54.

Ardmore senior Aedan Ellison took the the ball down the floor. Moving around a high screen (but with Weaver staying with him), Ellison and the Tigers went for the tie as we drove to the left block for a layup before time expired. Jaggers leapt and denied the shot which ended up in Neal’s hands to seal the win.

“He ends up winning homecoming king, and it’s just fitting, man,” Bethany coach Josh Holliday said. “Like that guy has been tremendous, like his whole career here.

“Just to end it like that in his last regular season home game, get that game winning block.That was dope. That was pretty cool.”

Jaggers finished with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He added four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Sophomore Breck Brady had 12 points and nine rebounds. Brady had an assist, two steals and a blocked shot.

Neal followed with 10 points, including two 3-pointers. He had four assists.

Bethany lost a first quarter lead as Ellison and fellow senior Chrisean Loftis gave the Tigers a 8-point lead early in the second quarter.

The Bronchos stormed back. Neal’s 3-pointer with 5:24 left before halftime tied the game at 22. Junior Malachi Chatman gave Bethany the lead it wouldn’t relinquish with a bucket.

Weaver, who started the Bethany run, finished with eight points, a rebound, three assists, and three steals.

Chatman added six points, two rebounds, two assists and four steals.

During the run, Ardmore found it tough to penetrate the Bethany defense inside.

The Bronchos extended their lead to 15 points in the third quarter before Ardmore crawled back.

“For a while there, we were getting that first rebound, though, and then, they started to throw a couple in and then got a couple offensive rebounds and we fouled a little bit there. When it rains, it pours. 


“I’m just so proud of our guys for just continuing the fight. That’s all they do. They just continue to fight until that clock says zero.”

Holliday said the hard-fought game would help his team prepare for the postseason.

“It was a playoff atmosphere, man. Things go wrong, but we always talk about the next play. That’s what these guys are continuing to do. You can’t dwell on what’s happening and you can’t change it. We just got to look forward and do the next right thing.”

UP NEXT

Bethany (19-5) opens the 4A playoffs with a district matchup against Astec Charter School next Saturday (Feb. 21) at 7:30 p.m.

The Comets (5-9) beat 5A Santa Fe South, 66-20, Friday and will play 3A Pathways Tuesday before meeting Bethany next weekend.

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

	1	2	3	4	F
Ardmore (16-6)	20	2	11	21	54
Bethany (19-5)	14	16	18	8	56