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Bullis goes on a big run to put away St. Albans

Led by junior guard Lincoln Yeutter, Bullis opened the final eight minutes with a 16-0 run to secure its 51-39 victory at St. Albans, extending its win streak to nine games.

Tied at 32 at the end of the third quarter, it looked like anyone’s ball game.

No. 19 Bullis and St. Albans were battling through a physical matchup with animated fans on both sides, but Bullis coach Bruce Kelley’s final words going into the fourth quarter eliminated the parity between both Bulldog teams.

Led by junior guard Lincoln Yeutter, Bullis opened the final eight minutes with a 16-0 run to secure its 51-39 victory at St. Albans, extending its win streak to nine games.

“I just tried to calm them down,” Kelley said. “Winning road games in our league is not easy, and St. Albans had a wonderful crowd – and we had some students here tonight too – so I think we were just playing a little excited, so [we needed to] slow down. We talked about overcoming adversity: ‘Relax, we’ve been here before.’”

Junior guard Vado Morse and senior forward Chyree Walker led Bullis with 13 points each, while Yeutter finished with 12 points.

As an underdog, St. Albans came out firing and opened the game with a 10-2 lead capped off with a steal from senior forward Charles Snowden, who tossed the ball to junior guard Malcolm Spencer before getting it back for a powerful slam dunk.

Combining for 28 total fouls throughout the game, Kelley said it was more physical than typical contests and St. Albans plays tough at home, forcing Bullis to make uncharacteristic mistakes.

But despite the equality of the first three quarters, Bullis stepped up its defense and kept St. Albans from getting a basket until the 1:20-mark in the fourth – a jumper from freshman guard Robert Murphy.

St. Albans now has three consecutive losses.

“I thought we played really great defense; it’s just that unfortunate fourth quarter did us in,” St. Albans coach OJ Johnson said. “It’s hard to win like that. I give a lot of credit to Coach Kelley and his squad – they played tough defense and made it tough for us tonight.”

Snowden and Spencer tied for a team-high 11 points, while sophomore guard Phillip Jordan added six.

Without a loss in 2017, Bullis’ win streak dates back to Dec. 29, but records aren’t important to its players when their goals are bigger than an individual game.

“Records don’t mean anything, to be honest, because everyone makes the playoffs,” said Morse, who entered Friday’s game averaging 22.2 points per game. “We’re just trying to win the [Interstate Athletic Conference] and just keep on going forward.”

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