BY MIKE MONTFORT
They've won three in a row. Their latest Saturday, a 105-87 thrashing of Bossier Parish, may have been the best of the three. They're building momentum. In just a little over a week, they've rocketed out of a mid-pack jumble from a possible No. 10 seed into a No. 4 that's now within one-half game of tying Panola for the East Zone's No. 2 seed and a possible first-round post-season tournament bye.
Coach Grant McMillan's Bulldogs (16-11/10-7) seem to be sensing and playing with post-season urgency in their game with two regular-season contests remaining. That urgency palpitates more Wednesday as the 'Dawgs travel to Paris (16-12/10-7) to face the Dragons in a battle of teams currently tied for fourth place overall.
Against Bossier Parish Saturday, Navarro equaled or surpassed many single-game team marks this season as all 14 players contributed to a 60 percent shooting performance, 14 three-pointers, and defensively, with 17 steals and nine blocked shots.
The Bulldogs not only avenged a 57-56 loss January 26 at Bossier, but what evolved into their Showtime performance Saturday became BPCC's Duck-And-Cover Drill.
Sophomore Justin Thomas finished with a team-high 26 points from 11-of-13 shooting, with six rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocked shots as NC cracked the 100-point mark for the third time -- first against an NJCAA opponent.
Terrance Thomas added 14 points from 5-of-7 shooting and blocked five shots by the Cavaliers.
Xavier Pina nailed four three-pointers among 5-of-7 shooting and finished with 14 points. Pina ran his three-pont total for the season to 58, ranking him 12th among Navarro's top three-point shooters since 2000.
Sophomore Jaylen Harrison netted 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Emerging freshman Tre'Von Love -- his starts coinciding with the Bulldogs' win streak -- totaled eight points with nine assists and six steals.
While suffering its third straight loss, Bossier Parish got a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds from freshman Jaeden Marshall. Marshall had been averaging 24.8 points over his last six games after he made a buzzer-beating, three-pointer to knock down NC last month.
Erin Wright came off the bench 2ith 18 for BPCC.
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SCORE BY HALVES
Bossier Parish.......37....50 -- 87
Navarro................50....55 -- 105
BPCC: Jaeden Marshall 22, Erin Wright 18, Christian Caldwell 10, Derick Hamilton 8, Kendrick Delahoussaye 6, Trent Phillips 6, Jeremy Richard 4, Rodrell Dryden 2, Domonique Perry 2, Kamryn Guidry 2. TOTALS: (33-66)-(7-18)-(14-18)-87.
NAVARRO: Justin Thomas 26, Terrance Thompson 14, Xavier Ina 14, Jaylen Harrison 12, Sabry Philip 12, Tre'Von Love 8, Antonee Abraham 6, Garrett Celsur 3, Derrick Brown III 3, Babacar Diallo 3, Addarin Scott 2, Collins Onyeike 2, Colin Schaefer 0, Antonee Abraham 0, Makur Jongkuch 0. TOTALS: (42-70)-(14-32)-(7-13)-14-105.
FOUL OUT: None.
REBOUNDS: BPCC 28 (8-20). NC 32 (9-23). BPCC - Marshall 7. NC -- Harrison 7, Thomas 6, Philip 4, Onyeike 4, Scott 3, Schaefer 1, Pina 1, Thompson 1, Brown 1, Celsur 1.
ASSISTS: BPCC 19. BPCC - Marshall 4. NC -- 31. Love 9, Harrison 5, Abraham 5, Thomas 4, Philip 4, Jonghuck 1, Diallo 1, Thompson 1.
STEALS: BPCC 11. NC -- 17. Love 6, Thomas 5, Harrison 4, Celsure 1, Philip 1.
BLOCKED SHOTS: BPCC - 4. NC -- 9. Thompson 5, Thomas 2, Scott 1, Jongkuch 1.
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SATURDAY'S JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCORES
REGION XIV
Kilgore 83, Panola 54
Navarro 105, Bossier Parish 87
Paris 89, Trinity Valley 86 (2-OT)
Lee 71, Angelina 67 (OT)
Jacksonville 70, Blinn 64
Lamar State-Port Arthur 92, Coastal bend 74
REGION V NTJCAC
McLennan 77, Ranger 73
Temple 83, Collin 78
Weatherford 79, Grayson 73
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NEXT GAME -- Navarro at Paris, 7:30 pm, The Hunt Center.
