Stephenson guard Bryce Latimer drives past Tucker’s Nicholas Watson. Latimer had 32 points to lead the Jaguars to a 54-40 upset of No. 9 Tucker. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Senior guard Bryce Latimer hit for a game-high 32 points to lead the Stephenson Jaguars to a 54-40 upset of the No. 9 ranked Tucker Tigers at Tucker on Tuesday night.

Latimer hit for 11 points in the final 4:28 of the game to help the Jaguars pull away including seven of eight free throws in a 15 second span that sealed the Jaguars’ six consecutive victory to improve to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in Region 4-6A play.

Stephenson was leading 43-38 with 2:18 to play when Latimer was fouled driving to the basket. Tucker then got two technical putting Latimer at the line for six free throws. He connected on five of the six to expand the lead to 48-38 and Stephenson got the ball out of bounds.

The Jaguars got the ball to Latimer on the inbounds and he was fouled. He hit both free throws to make it a 50-38 advantage with 2:13 remaining.

Trevon Daniel hit a layup and Drevion Evans added a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 54-38 with 42 seconds to play. Tucker’s Josh Vann had a steal and layup with 12 second to play to make the final of 54-40.

The game had been a back-and-forth affair throughout the first three quarters with 11 lead changes and Stephenson holding a 29-28 lead at the end of the third quarter after Tucker’s Javon Tatum drove to the basket to close the gap heading into the fourth quarter.

Evans opened the final period with a drive to the basket to start an 8-2 run for the Jaguars as they took command of the game at 37-30 on a pair of Evans free throws with 5:52 remaining.

Trevon Flowers helped Tucker pull within 37-34 with just over five minutes to play as he slashed to the basket for the second time in under a minute.

Latimer then drove past the Tucker defense for a pair of layups to sandwich a pair of free throws by Charles Fairchild as the Jaguars made it a 43-36 game.

Latimer’s 32 points was a game high while Drevion Evans added 10 points and Franklin Smith added 7 points and 9 rebounds in the post.

Tucker’s Javon Tatum hit for 17 points to lead the Tigers (5-3, 3-2) while Nathaniel Ogbu added 9 points and 8 rebounds before fouling out.

Tucker’s Amariah Stanard (with ball) goes up inside between Stephenson’s Sierra Wynn (left) and Kennedy Larkins (right). (Photo by Mark Brock)

(G) Tucker 48, Stephenson 38
The No. 9 ranked Tucker Lady Tigers won the battle of Top 10 ranked teams 48-38 over the No. 8 Stephenson Lady Jaguars by winning the battle on the boards 51-39 to overcome 33 turnovers.

Tucker trailed just twice in the game at 1-0 early in the first quarter and 10-9 on a Sierra Wynn layup with 3:00 left in the first half.

Amariah Stanard’s steal and layup with 1:52 started a 10-4 run for Tucker that ended as Kierra Guthrie hit a three with 20 seconds left in the first half to send Tucker into the half up 20-14.

Taylor Smith’s trey from the left wing with 4:02 to play in the third quarter started an 8-0 run for the Lady Tigers (4-2, 4-1) to take the largest lead of the game at 30-19. Jasani Buchanan’s three-point play and two free throws by Summer Dilwood completed the run with 3:16 left in the quarter.

Dilwood ended a 5-0 run by the Jaguars with a three that gave Tucker a 33-24 advantage with one quarter remaining.

The Jaguars cut the lead to 34-31 with 5:31 remaining as Kennedy Larkins drove the basket and was fouled. She put the layup in and added the free throw as Stephenson seemed to have taken the momentum early in the fourth quarter.

Kerrigan Johnson had a three and a long jumper to extend the lead to 39-32 with 3:43 to play. Layups by Destiny Dennis and Buchanan made it a 10-point game (44-34) with 2:31 to play.

Buchanan hit two of four free throws and Dilwood gave Tucker a 13-point (48-35) lead with 37 seconds to play as she added two more from the charity stripe.

Wynn got an offensive rebound and put back with 13 seconds to play for the final of 48-38.

Johnson finished with a game-high 14 points to lead Tucker in the win while Buchanan put together a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double. Amariah Stanard had just four points in the game, but was tough under the boards with 10 rebounds in the game.

Wynn hit for 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to lead Stephenson (4-4, 3-1) while Kassidy Broussard added 10 points.