[Stardust]

PIKEVILLE – The Prestonsburg Blackcats couldn’t avoid an upset in the opening round of the 15th Region Boys’ Basketball Tournament. Plagued by foul trouble, Prestonsburg fell to the Belfry Pirates. Junior center/forward Tony Messer scored a game-high 24 points to lead Belfry past 58th District champion Prestonsburg 70-69 in overtime Thursday night in the opening round of the regional tournament at the East Kentucky Expo Center.

Belfry, the team with the fewest wins in the 15th Region Tournament field, knocked off Prestonsburg after finishing runner-up to Phelps in the 60th District last week. Belfry was able to enact some revenge in its latest outing. Prestonsburg edged Belfry 90-88 on Jan. 28 when the two teams hooked up during the regular-season.

With the win, Belfry (10-17) advances to the 15th Region Tournament semifinals.

Prestonsburg, under the direction of first-year head coach James DeRossett, exited the season 16-16. The Blackcats captured the 58th District title last week, completing a solid turnaround after going 7-21 in the 2010-11 season.

The two longtime rivals swapped leads throughout the regional tournament game. Belfry took a hard-fought 16-14 lead out of the opening quarter. The Pirates led by as many as eight points in the second quarter before Prestonsburg battled back to tie the game. Belfry and Prestonsburg were knotted 28-28 at halftime.

Prestonsburg moved ahead and stretched its lead out to nine points (39-30) in the third quarter. But the Pirates wouldn’t go away, countering with an 8-0 run of their own. Belfry battled back to lead 43-31 following a field goal in the final seconds of the third quarter.

Prestonsburg led 60-57 with :57 remaining in regulation. The Pirates tied the contest with 42.3 left and held Prestonsburg scoreless for the remainder of regulation.

Prestonsburg had a chance to pull even but missed a three-point attempt prior to the final buzzer.

Freshman guard Jarrell Jarrell scored the first two points of the overtime period to push Prestonsburg ahead 62-60. Belfry managed to move back ahead and owned multiple leads en route to nipping the Cats 10-9 in the scoring column for the victory in overtime.

Junior Josh Robinson and senior Gary Runyon accompanied Messer in double figures, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Belfry shot 52 percent (24 of 46) from the field. The Pirates were 18-of-33 (55 percent) from the free throw line.

Belfry is back in the regional semifinals following a loss to then-All “A” Classic state champion Betsy Layne in the opening round of last year’s 15th Region Tournament.

Jarrell led Prestonsburg with 18 points. Following closely behind his backcourt teammate, junior forward Bryson Williams added 17 points for the Blackcats.

Freshman guard Jarrin Hall joined Jarrell and Williams in double figures, finishing with 13 points.

Junior Trey Stapleton chipped in eight points for Prestonsburg in the season-ending loss.

Belfry will play Pike County foe East Ridge in the regional semifinals Saturday. East Ridge edged Sheldon Clark 50-48 in the nightcap Thursday night. Tip-off for the Belfry-Sheldon Clark game is set for 6 p.m.



Read more: Floyd County Times (KY) - 15th Region Tournament Blackcats fall to Belfry in OT