The clock struck midnight on the Jaybird basketball team’s Cinderella season. The Slidell Greyhounds defeated Jayton Saturday morning 49 to 36 for the state 1A basketball championship in the Alamodome in San Antonio.
For the first time in school history, the Jaybirds competed in the state basketball title game. To get there, on Thursday, the #9 Jaybirds upset Texas 1A basketball powerhouse, six-time champion Nazareth 38 to 37 in the semi-final, with a buzzer beater by junior Tye Scogin to advance to face #6 Slidell for the state championship title.
Slidell, which had struggled in its semi-final Thursday against Oakwood, came ready to play Saturday morning. They opened up a 13-5 lead during the first quarter, and then the Greyhounds’ full-court press forced 16 Jayton turnovers.
Behind a 10-point, 21-rebound performance from MVP 6’ 6” Slayton Pruett, whose grandfather was on the 1964 Slidell team that fell one game shy of reaching the state tournament, the Greyhounds kept the momentum throughout the game, although the Jaybirds tied up the game at 22 in the second quarter. Slidell regained the lead before halftime with back-to-back baskets by Pruett.
For the game, Jayton had two players reach double-digit points but it wasn’t enough as Slidell had three players reach that mark and one of them – Pruett – was one rebound away from setting a new state record in rebounds.
Head coach Ryan Bleiker and the Jayton Jaybirds made history by earning a slot in the state championship game, winning six out of seven postseason games since Feb. 19.
Well-wishers around the state and area flooded social media for the school and the athletes. The Kent County Library hosted watch parties on Thursday and Saturday mornings, and fans loaded JGISD buses in the wee hours to make the trip to San Antonio both days.
Media outlets such as the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star Telegram, the Abilene Reporter-News, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, KCBD-TV, Lubbock, WOAI-TV, San Antonio, and KTXS-TV, Abilene posted the video of Scogin’s layup to beat Nazareth in the semi-finals, resulting in thousands of views.
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