March 29, 2009 — The Educational Complex Barracudas lived to fight another day in the V.I. Boys Varsity basketball championship by outlasting the Charlotte Amalie High School Chicken Hawks 68-65 Saturday night at the Central High School Gymnasium.
The Hawks prevailed one night earlier, winning 72-68 in an overtime thriller to take a 1-0 lead in the best-two-of-three series. The Hawks were looking to complete the sweep Saturday, but the Barras were having none of that.
The Barras started the game like a team on a mission as they opened the contest on a 15-3 run before the Hawks closed the first period on a 4-0 run to trail 15-7 after one quarter.
The teams played rather evenly for most of the second quarter, and the Baras enjoyed a nine-point lead at 30-21 with a minute left in the half. The Hawks' Shamal Caines then hit back-to-back three pointers to bring his team to within three points of the lead at 30-27 with 36 seconds left before intermission. A three-point play by the Barras' Kyle Sylvester in the waning seconds of the half allowed his team to go into the locker room leading by six at 33-27.
The Barras opened the second half on a 6-0 run to quickly extend their lead to 12 points at 39-27. Seven Barras got into the scoring column in the third period, and they were able to outscore the Hawks 19-13 in the quarter to lead by 12 at 52-40 heading into the fourth.
The final belonged to the Hawks offensively, but the Barras were able to do just enough to withstand a late charge from the Chicken Hawks. Even so, the Hawks got a great look at the basket for a game-tying three-pointer attempt as time expired, but came up just short. The Hawks got eight points apiece from Ryan Mills and Alston Creque in the fourth quarter to lead their comeback attempt, while Warren Brooks and Sylvester each netted six points for the Barras to just hold of the Hawks 68-65.
The Barras were led offensively by Sylvester, who finished with a game-high 21 points, while teammate Brooks chipped in with 16. For the Hawks, three players scored in double figures, with Caines leading the way with a team-high 16 points. Creque and Mills finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
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