It looked like the Model Blue Devils were going to overcome a shaky start and some poor free-throw shooting Friday night to beat the Darlington Tigers on the road at Van Es Arena, but sometimes closing out a game is harder than building a lead.
Model coughed up a six-point advantage early in the fourth quarter, as Darlington ripped off a 16-2 run to seize control in the final frame to win 63-50 in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate.
It was a charged atmosphere with a raucous crowd for Darlington’s RUMPUS spirit night, and the fans got to see two state-ranked teams do battle. Model came into the game ranked No. 6 in Class A, while the Tigers came in ranked No. 6 in the state’s private school division.
Both coaches said the game truly hung in the balance until Darlington’s fourth-quarter surge closed things out.
“Basketball is obviously a game of runs, and I thought we started off hot and made some shots and got some easy points down low,” said Tigers head coach Nathan West, who saw his team improve to 14-2 overall and 5-0 in Region 6-A. “And then (Model) came back and did a good job attacking the rim and kind of slowed down the tempo and our momentum and then we missed some open shots. In the second half, we threw some zone defenses in there to slow them down when they got the lead on us, and you keep thinking that eventually some of our outside shots would fall again, and they finally did during that fourth quarter.
“I was proud of our guys; they didn’t quit,” West added. “Our team fought the whole time. Model is a good team — Jacob (Travis) does a good job coaching those guys. We knew we were going to have a battle tonight, and I’m proud of our guys and how hard they fought.”
Travis, who saw his team’s six-game win streak come to an end, lamented his team’s missed chances to put the game away when the Blue Devils had a 45-39 lead with under seven minutes to go. Model only scored three field goals in the final frame, and the Blue Devils were just 6-of-15 from the free throw line in the game.
“We gave up the run there when it was a five- or six-point game for several possessions in a row. We just took some bad shots and didn’t move the basketball enough,” Travis explained. “We’ve just got to grow up and be a little more disciplined on offense in those moments. You can’t give a really good team like Darlington transition opportunities and that’s what bit us there during that run.
“Our effort was good but our execution was not,” Travis said. “Credit Darlington for making their shots late. They’re always a good team and well-coached, and for us it’s a chance to get better. We showed some spurts tonight where we were pretty good at times… we just need to be more disciplined. We really do some good things at times but then we get away from it. Some of that’s on me. … I’ve got to do a better job coaching them. We need to be more consistent.”
With the loss, Model falls to 13-2 and 5-1.
The Tigers fed off the atmosphere of their boisterous home crowd early, racing out to a 9-2 lead and eventually holding a 14-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Model closed to within a point midway through the second period, cutting it to 18-17 on a Brysen Bell jumper. However, the Tigers scored six straight to build a small cushion and still led 28-23 at halftime.
The Blue Devils came out with a more aggressive mindset in the third quarter, going on a 7-0 run at one point to turn a 35-33 deficit into a 40-35 lead on a 3-pointer by Bryson Denson. He connected on another triple at the quarter buzzer to make it 43-39, and on the first possession of the fourth period, Dominic Fraley hit a layup to give Model its biggest lead at 45-39.
But that’s when the Tigers made their game-changing surge. Over the next five minutes, Darlington got buckets from Brent Bell, Cam Selig and DJ Hall, and the 16-2 spurt gave the Tigers control at 55-47 with just over two minutes left.
Model only hit one basket the rest of the way, and Darlington closed out the win by hitting five of six free throws in the final 30 seconds.
Brent Bell led the way for the Tigers with 16 points, while Selig scored 15 and Hall added 10. For Model, Denson scored a game-high 18 points, while Brysen Bell added 11 and Chadon Woodley chipped in 10.
Model will host Bremen on Tuesday, while Darlington travels to Heard County. These two teams will meet again in the regular-season finale, Feb. 10 at Model.
This article was originally published in the Rome-News Tribune on Jan. 20, 2026.
