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East Aurora hands Bartlett 1st UEC Valley loss

The Bartlett boys basketball team is no longer undefeated in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division.

East Aurora sophomore standout Traevon Brown poured in a career-high 30 points, and the Tomcats staved off a Bartlett comeback of epic proportions in the final minute to secure a 68-63 victory.

"You have to be ready to play every night in this conference - and we certainly didn't do that tonight," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said.

The Tomcats (5-15, 3-4) scored 24 of the first 33 points Friday night in Aurora in never trailing against the Hawks (13-9, 6-1).

But Bartlett would certainly make it interesting in the final minute.

The Hawks had a furious rally, making it a one-possession game, 63-61, after Ben Tompson converted a 3-point play with 57.8 seconds to play.

Bartlett had trailed by 13 points only two-plus minutes earlier.

Tompson and Drew Martin teamed up to counter the monster night Brown enjoyed for East Aurora. The former led the Hawks with 18 points, and Martin was a point behind his teammate.

Bartlett would have two possessions to forge a deadlock in the final minute. But both trips ended in missed shots in the paint.

"It seemed like we kind of went one-against-the-world there," Wolfsmith said.

Jules Williamson was the star for East Aurora in the 22 seconds. The Tomcats' sophomore blocked the Hawks' second attempt - forcing a change of possession on the resulting jump ball - and then hit 5 free throws in a 16-second span to seal the victory for East Aurora.

"Both teams battled really hard (in the final minute)," Martin said. "We just didn't hit our shots down the stretch, and they hit their free throws.

Brown was sensational all game for East Aurora in augmenting his 14 first-half points with 16 more after the intermission. The Tomcats' point guard drained five 3-pointers.

"I have never shot the ball like that before," Brown said. "We wanted to push the ball to the shooters."

"He's a special kid," Wolfsmith said of Brown. "When he hits his outside shot like that, he's almost unguardable."

Bartlett appeared to make serious inroads against East Aurora late in the third quarter, but Brown hit consecutive 3-pointers to extend the Tomcats' cushion.

It mirrored the first half when Brown missed a mere shot as the Tomcats bolted to a 24-9 lead late in the first quarter.

"They shot the lights out in the opening quarters," Martin said of East Aurora.

The Hawks' Jake Ibegbulem beat the second-quarter horn with a 3-pointer to reduce the Tomcats' halftime lead to 33-24.

"Traevon was at his best in his year-and-a-half (varsity) career," Jeffries said. "The game plan was to push the ball."

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