The Barbe Bucs overcame a fourth-quarter rally and survived overtime Friday night for a stunning 54-51 win over the Washington-Marion Charging Indians in the IberiaBank Barbe Tournament. The win puts the Bucs into the semifinals of their tournament, where they will face Landry-Walker at 1 p.m. today.

Barbe led 40-33 to start the fourth quarter before Washington-Marion rallied.

Quajae Boutte scored the first 10 points of the quarter to give Washington-Marion a 43-40 lead with 3:06 remaining. Barbe answered with a 3-pointer by Savon Price to tie the game at 43-43 with 2:14 remaining.

Washington-Marion held the ball for final shot of regulation, but missed a driving layup and the following tip-in, which forced the overtime period.

Overtime saw the Bucs (7-2) score first to take the lead. The Charging Indians (8-3) answered to tie the game at 45. The Bucs then went on a 6-2 run to take a 51-47 lead with 22.4 seconds left.

Washington-Marion was able to cut the lead to one point on two occasions during overtime but free throws sealed the game for Barbe. Barbe made 7 of 10 free throws in the final minute of overtime.

“I thought defensively we did a pretty good job of shutting down the gaps and only giving them one shot,” said Barbe coach Carl Klein. “On the other end we executed offensively and stayed within our means and attacked the basket like we were capable of to help us pull out the win.”

The first quarter actually saw W-M jump out to an 8-2 lead. Barbe then answered with a 14-0 run to take a 16-8 lead with 1:19 to play in the first quarter. Washington-Marion answered with a 5-0 run to close out the first quarter.

Barbe controlled the second quarter to take a 30-22 lead into the locker room.

Barbe was led in scoring by Devin Anderson who finished with a game-high 19 points.

“Devin Anderson had a great game last night and has been real steady for us,” Klein said. “He’s one of those guys that never quits and always gives us great effort. The team looks up to him a lot and is a big leader for us.”

Jeremiah Ellis led Washington-Marion in scoring with 15 points. Boutte finished with 13 points.

“We didn’t play our best game tonight,” said Washington-Marion coach Albert Hartwell. “We played into their hands. We made the run when had to make the run as we thought we had the momentum in our favor but we turned the ball over too many times.”(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman