Woodlawn Holds Off Multiple Rison Rallies for 77-70 Win

RISON - No lead was ever safe for the Woodlawn Bears Tuesday night as the Rison Wildcats answered nearly every Woodlawn run with one of their own. The Bears led by double digits in both the first and second half, but each time the ‘Cats would claw back in to cut it to a one-possession. That theme was persistent throughout the 8-2A conference battle, including late in the contest when Woodlawn seemed to have the game in hand after Raylon Lawson’s dunk with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter, putting the Bears up 65-51. But Rison rallied as Owen Morrison and ZaKyler Walker combined to score nine points in an 12-0 run by the Wildcats that cut the Bears’ lead to 65-62 with about 3:30 left. A couple of free throws by Landen Booth and a layup by Lawson pushed Woodlawn’s lead back to seven, 69-62. But the ‘Cats came back with an 8-4 run that once again made it a one-possession game when Morrison’s two free throws to cut the Bears’ lead to 73-70 with 1:58 left. That was as close as it would get, however, as Woodlawn sank four-of-six free throws in the final 41 seconds to secure the win. The game was highly charged as Rison Coach Greg Anthony was called for back-to-back technical fouls at the close of the first half and was ejected from the game. His replacement, Lady Wildcat Coach Seth Taylor, drew a technical in the closing minute of the game. There was also a technical on Woodlawn’s Caleb Martin in the second half. Rison had two players, James Mitchell and Bennett, foul out while the Bears’ Lawson fouled out in the fourth quarter after drawing his fourth foul early in the third. Woodlawn had four players finish in double figures. Lawson led all scorers with 27 points while Jaxson Martin had 22. Booth and Garrett Weatherford both had 14. Walker had 25 points to lead the Wildcats followed by Morrison with 19. Bears Coach Logan Adair said a...