Chalmers buries last-second layin vs. Gainesville for JHS to stay unbeaten

It wasn’t like Rylan Chalmers was trying to reinvent the wheel with a layin late vs. Gainesville Dec. 8.

The senior guard had done it a number of times vs. the Leopards on his 22-point night. It was the last time that was broke the visitors’ back. Chalmers and his teammates were going for the last shot when he got the ball and appeared almost hesitant to make the attempt.

He did and buried it once again with 9.4 seconds to go, giving Jacksboro a 57- 56 win after a last-second play by the Leopards failed. Jacksboro Coach Aaron Bass was pleased with the win, which kept his squad unbeaten.

“I didn’t think we played particularly well tonight. We played down,” Bass said.”We competed and overcame a bunch of adversity. I guess I saw what I wanted to see out of our guys but we have so much more to bring.”

Jacksboro was without the services of Jordan Yount, who rolled an ankle over the previous weekend. Bass said the injury is not serious and he might see a few minutes of action in Seymour last Friday. Chalmers started early and often, burying a pair of hoops and a free throw to pace a 7-2 Tiger lead.

Sophomore Paul Shackelford’s pair of baskets and a Landon Davenport bucket pushed the lead to 15-6 midway through the first.

Jacksboro used 42-percent shooting in the first to take a 17-9 lead after one. An aggressive Gainesville squad (4-4) took advantage of some lackadaisical play by the hosts in the second, along with some cold shooting, to tie the game at 26. Daylan Valles led the squad with a pair of baskets and a free throw in the second, where the Tigers shot just 25 percent on 4-16 from the floor.

The Leopards led by three early in the third before missing their last seven shots. Davenport and Chalmers showed senior leadership to retake the Tiger lead at 43-37. The pair combined for 15 of Jacksboro’s 17-points in the frame, sans for a pair of Valles free throws.

The Tigers led by seven with 4:40 left before Gainesville made a run culminating with an offensive rebound off a free throw which resulted in a bucket with 35 ticks to go and a 56-55 Gainesville lead.

Davenport had 14 points and Valles nine.

Cason Evans led the Leopards with 17 points with Robyn Hardin another 15.