Rosepine, La. —
The Rosepine Eagles made their free throws down the stretch, connecting on 8-of-12 in the fourth quarter as they handed the fifth-ranked Anacoco Indians their first district loss on Friday, 35-31.
Going into the game against Rosepine (17-7, 6-2), the Indians (21-4, 6-1) had won 21 of its previous 22 games.
But the Eagles were able to control the pace of the game, along with hitting their free throws.
"It seemed like we hit a few free throws," Eagle head coach Danny Fletcher said.
"We played Rosepine's style of game," Indian head coach Kevin Jeane said. "We didn't play our style. We were satisfied with taking a quick jumper. [Normally] we try to get it pounded inside."
Rosepine made its foul shots when it counted.
Ethan Calcote was fouled in the back court for the Eagles with nine seconds to play in the game. He made both of his free throws to give Rosepine a 35-31 lead.
After an Anacoco timeout, the Indians rolled the ball down the court and Chris Lenahan missed a two-pointer. Rosepine's Jason Allardyce collected the rebound with three seconds to play and was fouled. He missed the free throws, but the Eagles had already clinched the game.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Eagles held a slim 21-19 lead.
Rosepine was able to get to the free throw line in the fourth quarter by making Anacoco play from behind.
Richard Palmer made back-to-back two-pointers to give Rosepine a 25-19 lead with 6:42 to play in the game. The first basket was off of a pass from Shane Longoria and the next bucket came off of a feed from Calcote.
However, Anacoco would not go away.
Matt Moss converted a shot off an offensive rebound with 5:34 to play in the game and John Reese made two free throws with 4:34 to play in the game, cutting the Rosepine lead to 25-23.
Just over a minute later, Lenahan connected on a shot for Anacoco to cut Rosepine's lead to 28-27.
The Eagles were able to score the next five points to increase their lead to 33-27.
Longoria made a layup and Trey Thomas connected on a free throw with about a minute to go.
Junior standout Julius Jackson was fouled with 36 seconds to play and made both of his free throws to give Rosepine a 33-27 lead.
Reese made two free throws with 28 seconds to go and connected on a shot nine seconds later to get the Indians to within two, 33-31.
However, Calcote was able to make his two free throws with nine seconds to play to give Rosepine the 35-31 lead and secure the win.
"I knew it was going to be a real close ball game," Fletcher said. "Anacoco has a real good ball club."
Palmer led the Eagles with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Jackson had seven points and six assists.
Moss paced Anacoco with 11 points, while Reese and Clinton McCrary had eight points each.
Rosepine is at Pickering in district play on Tuesday, while Anacoco plays host to South Beauregard.
