The Quitman Bulldogs charged back from a 2-4 start in district basketball to make the state playoffs with five straight wins capped by a thrilling 51-49 win over visiting Mt. Vernon Friday.

The Tigers had three shots at the bucket as time ran out with the last one going in, but it was after the buzzer and did not count. Both teams were celebrating and things got quiet as the three referees stood at mid-court discussing the final shot.

The Quitman team and fans erupted when the head official waved off the basket preserving the Bulldog win.

The Bulldogs’ last playoff appearance came in 2015. Seeding was dependent upon the outcome of Tuesday’s final district games, with Quitman at Mineola and Mt. Vernon facing Winnsboro.

Quitman Coach Brandon Fields was excited about the win. “That was a wild game. My kids are just resilient. We did not start off good, but we stayed after it and played hard. I told them at the half to play hard, keep the pace up and knock some shots down and everything else would take care of its self,” Fields explained. “I know when Levi hits a couple of shots he will heat up and he did.”

Fields said this team is special. “In my five years of coaching this is the most selfless group I have been around. They don’t care who gets the credit. They know Levi (Thompson) and Brady (Floyd) are two of our top guys, but they just don’t care about anything but winning,” Fields added. “These guys are what a team should be. They hang out together and they love each other like brothers. I am really proud of how far they have come in the past year.”

The Bulldogs have made their opponents aware that they come to play. “We did not get any respect last year. I told the kids you have to earn respect and I think they have done that this year,” Fields noted.

In the first quarter Mt. Vernon took an 11-7 lead on the strength of three triples from Jaden Horton. The Tigers had a 6-0 lead when Bulldog Hunter Jacobs scored Quitman‘s first points with a triple and Landon Richey muscled his way down the lane to score making it 6-5. Levi Thompson followed with a steal and score to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead. Mt. Vernon hit another three and added a pair of free throws to take an 11-7 lead into the second quarter.

The teams both scored 12 second-quarter points giving Mt. Vernon a 23-19 lead at the half. The Tigers had taken a 23-13 lead when Brady Floyd hit a bucket, Thomas Sabedra sank a free throw and Ford Tannebaum added two more free throws in the final seconds before intermission.

The Bulldogs came out ready to play in the second half going on an 18-7 run in the third quarter.  Ford Tannebaum sparked his team and the home crowd with a steal at mid-court driving the lane for a bucket just as the second half began. Jacobs followed with a trey and Thompson hit a triple for Quitman’s first lead at 27-26 with 4:25 to go in the quarter.

Quitman’s leading scorer, Thompson, was held to four first half points, but he exploded for 12 points in the quarter. Quitman took a 37-30 lead going into the final quarter. 

Mt. Vernon started the final quarter on an 8-0 run and took a 38-37 lead with six minutes left in the game. With the Tigers leading 44-43, Thompson made three points by scoring on a drive, getting fouled and sinking the charity toss to put Quitman up 46-44 with 2:58 to go.

In the last four minutes, Thompson hit on eight of ten free throws and a Ford Tannebaum free throw made it 51-49 with 8.5 seconds to go. Mt. Vernon could not get that last shot to fall in time and the Bulldogs had won their fifth game in a row.

Thompson finished with 28 points, with 24 coming in the second half. Floyd once again did a solid job at point guard running the offense and hitting teammates with timely passing. 

Quitman won this game because of their determination and their relentless full-court and half-court defensive play. Richey, Ethan Presley and Garin Kisinger did a great job on defense. Jack Tannebaum also played an important role with his tenacious defense causing turnovers while keeping Mt. Vernon perimeter players  harassed and frustrated.