Royals Fall to Chipley
Tuesday-Jay’s (22-4) historic season came to an end in front of a capacity crowd at the John C. Smith Gymnasium at the hands of Chipley (20-6), 63-52. The loss to the Tigers was the first for Jay since December 30th. Winners of 16 straight, the Royals were playing to reach the FHSAA Final Four and go to Lakeland and play in the state semi-finals for the first time in 60 years.
Chipley came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, connecting on three 3 pointers and scoring 18 to Jay’s 12. Jay’s Ethan McDonald would get hot in the second quarter scoring 9, including two 3 pointers. Tristan Watson scored 10 in the second quarter, going 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Jay would take a 33-32 lead into the locker rooms.
The Tigers came out in the third, scoring 17 to take back the lead.
The Royals fought back in the fourth quarter to pull the game within two with less than three minutes remaining. Chipley, however, was able to secure a couple of offensive rebounds that would have given Jay at least another opportunity to take the lead or tie.
The 2022/2023 basketball season has been such an incredible ride for not only the Jay players and coaches, but also the school and the community. The team has so much to be proud of… Winners of 22 games this season, the most at Jay in over 30 years and winning a district championship, the school’s first in boy’s basketball in 25 years. This season won’t be soon forgotten. The players’ and coaches’ hard work and dedication has been appreciated and adored by their fans. The play and leadership of seniors Tristan Watson and Landry Locklin will be hard to duplicate, but the future is bright for the Royals with returning starters Ethan McDonald, Mason Allen, Matthew Skipper and Sammy Melvin.
The 2023 season can’t tip off soon enough!
CHS 18 14 17 14-63
JHS 12 21 8 11-52
(T. Watson 14, E. McDonald 21, S. Melvin 4, B. Goodwin 5, M. Allen 4, M. Skipper 4)
