No. 8 seed Branson stunned No. 1 seed Bolivar with a fourth-quarter comeback to beat the top seed 55-52 in the Class 5 District 6 quarterfinals at Willard on Wednesday.
The Pirates jumped out to a 12-7 lead after the first quarter before Bolivar fought back take a one-point lead at 26-25 heading into the half. The Liberators looked like they may take control of the game out of the break building a 38-30 lead after three quarters.
Then Branson went to work.
The Pirates outscored Bolivar 25-14 in the quarter to come back and stun the Liberators. Justin Gill and Jayce Culver keyed the comeback for Branson with each scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to account for all but five of Branson’s fourth-quarter points. Gill finished with 17 points and Culver had 13. Justin Gill also had 17 points to lead Branson.
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Bolivar was led by Kyle Pock with 17 points. The Pirates held Pock to just three points through the first three quarters before he exploded to score all of Bolivar’s 14 fourth-quarter points.
Branson (6-21) advances to face No. 4 seed Hillcrest (16-11) in the Class 5 District 6 semifinals at 6 pm on Friday.
Branson – 12-13-5-25 — 55
Bolivar – 7-19-12-14 — 52
BR: Justin Gill 17, Nolan Toliver 17, Jayce Culver 13, Kamden Sutton 6, Elijah Lashley 2
BO: Kyle Pock 17, Mason Wilson 13, Ricky Gooding 9, Casey Gardner 6, Kaden Griswold 5, Jack Larimore 2
