Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Tiger teammates congratulate Malakoff’s Brandt Powers (center) after he hit the game-winning 3-pointer against Mineola.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Canyon Marsh of Malakoff, who scored 5 points at home against Mineola Feb. 7, moves with the left-handed dribble.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Davion Johnson of Malakoff drives toward the hoop Feb. 7 against the Mineola Yellowjackets, which Malakoff won 37-34.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff guard Jack Driskell pulls up on the dribble to pass to a teammate in his team’s District 15-3A victory Feb. 7.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff’s Kayland Davis (right), who scored 6 points Feb. 7 against Mineola, swats away a Yellowjacket.

MALAKOFF–In his final home game, Malakoff Tigers senior Brandt Powers hit a 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds left in a Feb. 7 game versus the Mineola Yellowjackets, which propelled his team to a 37-34 victory after Mineola had erased a late-game deficit to tie the District 15-3A contest.
The Tigers had one more regular-season game remaining (on the road against Grand Saline Feb. 11) before moving on to the playoffs. Their Lady Tigers counterparts, who won the District championship at 11-1, played Sabine in the Bi-District round Feb. 11 in Tyler.
Leading 26-24 entering the fourth period, Malakoff started the last quarter with a Canyon Marsh banked-in 3-pointer, extending their advantage to 29-24. After Mineola made a layup to get back within 3 points, Landon Perkins re-extended the Tigers’ margin at 31-26 with a layup of his own. With 5:41 left in the game, Perkins made a free throw to put Malakoff up 32-26. After a Mineola free throw, Evan Loper of Malakoff collected an offensive rebound and made a turnaround basket in the lane with 3:26 remaining, which put the Tigers up 34-29.
Mineola then made a basket and got the ball back quickly after a Tiger turnover. With 1:13 left on the clock, the Yellowjackets converted a 3-point play to tie the game. That set up Powers’ heroics which sent the Malakoff crowd into a frenzy and Mineola back home with a loss.
In the first period, Mineola played keep-away on offense right after the game-starting jump ball, keeping possession for 1 minute, 34 seconds until turning over the ball with a travel. Malakoff then took a 4-0 lead, capped by a Kayland Davis bucket. With 1:21 left in the first, Mineola took a 7-6 lead, a lead which Parker Poteete erased 38 seconds later with a basket in the paint following an offensive rebound. Mineola then tied the game at 8-8 on two technical foul shots to end the first period and then led 19-14 at halftime.
In the third period, Malakoff took the lead again on a Davis jumper with 3:29 left in that quarter. Perkins hit a shot from the top of the key with 5.5 seconds remaining in the third to put the Tigers ahead 26-22.
Perkins led Malakoff with 15 points, followed by Davis and Poteete with 6 points apiece. Marsh totaled 5 points, Powers added 3 points with his last-second shot and Loper contributed 2 points to the Tigers’ cause.