The call took Watson Chapel Coach Marcus Adams by surprise late Tuesday.
His Wildcats were not going to play crosstown foe Pine Bluff High School on the final afternoon of the King Cotton Holiday Classic, although they were paired in the King Bracket. Instead, they were going to take on Shreveport Calvary Baptist Academy on Wednesday morning.
Adams didn't request the change, but his Wildcats made the best of it and beat the Cavaliers 26-25.
"I know we did a great job," Adams said, his team coming off back-to-back, double-digit defeats in King Cotton. "We talked about playing defense. We couldn't shoot the ball in the ocean, but we played defense extremely hard and we rebounded hard."
Neither team shot better than 27% from the floor -- Watson Chapel was 8 for 34 -- but the Wildcats (6-6) out-rebounded the Cavaliers (8-8) 29-25 and made 9 of 14 free throws. Calvary was 9 for 34 from the floor and 5 for 11 at the line.
Khamani Cooper scored 12 points, and Christopher Fountain pulled down 15 rebounds to go with 2 points for Watson Chapel, which led 14-13 at halftime.
Calvary's La'Bree Williams, who went for 27 points against Pine Bluff on Tuesday, was held to 13 points Wednesday.
The Wildcats missed two bonus shots in the final 7 seconds but stopped the Cavaliers on the other end to escape with the win.
Watson Chapel will begin 8-4A Conference play at home next Tuesday against 4A second-ranked Magnolia, which took on Little Rock Parkview later Wednesday for the Creed Bracket championship.
"It definitely brings us a confidence booster," Adams said. "It's a big momentum shift against a team like Magnolia."
Raymond (Miss.) 58, Pine Bluff 53
The Zebras dug from 18-11 down to tie the game at 30-all by halftime, but the Rangers kept attacking the rim and held Pine Bluff without a field goal in the final 2:40 to take the 58-53 win.
"We've been in the state championship game five straight years, and we really learned to bring our team together and keep our team together," said Tremaine Dixon, who led Raymond with 15 points and 3 assists. "We learned a lot over the years, and one thing about it, our previous teams helped us along the way. Our program is built on coaching, and games like that, if you have the right coaching, you're going to come away with the victory."
Eric Paymon, who had 12 points for Raymond, broke a 52-all tie with a putback at the 1:44 mark, and after Jordon Harris hit 1 of 2 free throws to draw Pine Bluff (6-6) within 54-53, Dixon gave the Rangers insurance on a 3-point play with 18.4 seconds to go.
Jabarie Robinson had 12 points, and Christian Noel scored 10 points for Raymond. Harris led Pine Bluff with 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Courtney Crutchfield finished with 12 points.
Fort Bend (Texas) Hightower 59, White Hall 44
Hightower held White Hall (5-5) to one field goal in the second quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 13-4 for needed separation in a 15-point victory.
Keaton Stone scored 13 points and Jai'chaun Hayes added 9 points and 2 assists for White Hall, which finished King Cotton 0-3. The Bulldogs shot 15 for 38 (39.5%) from the floor for the game.
Aaron Williams Jr. made 10 of 13 from the floor and totaled 24 points to lead the Hurricanes. Ja'Corey Chatman added 11 points.
GIRLS
Memphis Hutchison 56, Watson Chapel 37
The Sting outscored the Lady Wildcats 17-5 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 28-18 lead and got 17 points from Berklee Scifres for the game.
Tyler Jones scored 14 points for Hutchison, which made 3 of only 4 free throws.
Tatyana Barbee led Watson Chapel (0-11) with 20 points, and Keyundra Sanders added 12.
Courtney Crutchfield of Pine Bluff shoots over Jabarie Robinson of Raymond in the first quarter Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Kaleb Hargrove of White Hall goes to the basket against Aaron Williams Jr. (3) of Fort Bend Hightower in the third quarter Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Austyne Dendy of Pine Bluff draws a foul from Christian Noel of Raymond as he pulls up for a made basket in the first quarter Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Ezekiel Farris of White Hall leans in for a shot as Kyrin Dockk (12) and Jayden Deemer (33) of Fort Bend Hightower defend in the third quarter Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Farris was called for an offensive foul. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)