Lacey leads Butler over Bob Jones again

Reggie Ragland drives to the basket during the Patriots' 54-51 loss to Butler Jan. 17 at UAH.

Trevor Lacey did it again.

After leading Butler over Bob Jones, 59-57, in the championship game of the Huntsville Times Classic Dec. 30, Lacey followed up that performance Jan. 17 by scoring 11 of his 29 points in the final three minutes to lead the No. 1-ranked Class 4A Rebels to the 54-51 victory over Class 6A Bob Jones.

Lacey gave the Rebels their first lead of the game on a buzzer-beater layup to end the third quarter, and then he took the game over in the final three minutes of action.

Following a thunderous dunk by Lacey that brought the capacity crowd at the University of Alabama-Huntsville’ Spargins Hall to its feet, Jeffrey Moss made a stunning move and jump-shot to retie the game.

Lacey answered with another basket, but Bob Jones’ Kyle Dennis sank a three and then Moss followed it up with a layup to give the Patriots a three-point lead.

Lacey then took control, scoring two layups and three free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

“Trevor is good to get open,” Bob Jones head coach Danny Petty said. “We tried to double team him. He’s just a heck of a player. We just couldn’t stop him.”

The Patriots had two chances to the tie the game in the final 10 seconds, but both Cade Johnson and Tyler Davis’ three-pointers were off target.

Noticeably missing from the action was Bob Jones’ Levi Randolph, an Alabama signee, who scored 14 points in the last matchup between the two teams.

Randolph was present on the bench during the game, sporting bright blue sneakers, which landed him in hot water with Petty.

“Fluorescent blue shoes? Give me a break,” Petty lamented. “It’s a team thing. He’s got to start thinking about the team and not himself. If I let him wear fluorescent blue shoes, then what’s next? Fluorescent green? Orange? We’re going to look like a bunch of clowns. Hopefully, he’ll learn.”

Offensively for Butler, Lacey finished with a game-high double-double of 29 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Justin Pride with eight points and Deveron Everson with six.

For Bob Jones, Reggie Ragland had a team-high 13 points, followed by Davis with 12 points and Moss with 10.

Johnson led the Patriots with 12 rebounds.