JACKSONVILLE — The LaFayette boys basketball team fell six points shy of taking a trip to Birmingham in a 55-50 loss to Sacred Heart on Tuesday night.

Coming into the matchup, LaFayette head basketball coach Obadiah Threadgill said that the Bulldogs’ (28-5) assists total would be crucial in order to pull out a victory. On Tuesday night, LaFayette finished with a total of five team assists compared to Sacred Heart’s eight team total assists. In the Bulldogs’ previous game, the team finished with 22 total assists. 

After a  quiet regional semifinal, junior guard Corey Boston bounced back in the scoring category on Tuesday night, and finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals in the effort. Junior Jordan Wallace nearly finished with a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Junior Matavais Burton finished with 7 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds while playing intense defense through the night. Freshman center Antavious Woody added 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Sacred Heart star junior guard and Australian-native Jackson Stone finished with a game-leading 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a block and a steal in 32 minutes. 

LaFayette started off the game on a 13-1 run before Sacred Heart fought back in an effort lead by Stone. The Bulldogs were outscored 22-8 in the second quarter to trail 34-28 at halftime. 

Once down, the Bulldogs did not go down without a fight. LaFayette made multiple runs in the fourth quarter to give itself a chance to complete the comeback, but it appeared as if, at every breaking point, LaFayette couldn’t knock down the shots that mattered most. 

With just over two minutes remaining in the contest, Boston drove into the lane and missed a floater in front of the rim that would’ve cut the deficit to one possession. 

A couple of trips down the floor later, Boston attempt a deep pull up three to cut Sacred Heart’s lead down to a single possession game that clanked off the rim. 

With less than a minute remaining, Burton raced down the court and found Wallace while he was rolling to the rim to complete a three-point play. After the sequence, LaFayette only trailed by three and forced a Sacred  Heart turnover. The LaFayette faithful and bench got excited to see a  layup being attempted after LaFayette’s steal for an opportunity to cut the lead to one.  The Bulldogs missed that layup as well. 

On the ensuing possession, Stone was fouled again and missed a foul shot, which kept LaFayette within four.  The Bulldogs raced up the court again, only to witness another missed floater in the final moments of the game. 

Sacred went to the foul line with four seconds remaining, missed the first free throw and made the second to push the lead to five. 

Burton heaved up the final three-pointer that was off the mark as time expired to end the Bulldogs’ season. 

LaFayette expects to return the large Class of 2020 corps next season, led by Boston, Burton, Wallace and Markevious Moore.