St. David’s girls and boys roll in EPIC 2A title basketball games
After dropping its two regular-season decisions to Cary Christian, the St. David’s girls’ basketball team pulled off an improbable 62-59 upset of the Knights on Friday night to take its second consecutive Eastern Plains Independent 2A conference tournament championship.
On the boys’ side, Grace Christian played on its home court but fell to St. David’s 73-56 despite the Mercer brothers combining for 47 of Grace’s points.
St. David’s boys’ coach Will Coley made his fourth trip to the title game in five years, with Friday night’s victory being his first championship.
“I’ve lost them before, so this one was really sweet,” Coley said. “We’ve been working for this for a long time, I’m so happy for my seniors.”
Girls
Cary Christian (20-3), looking to capture its 11th straight win, raced to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter, a gap the Warriors were able to close to 14-13 by the end of the quarter.
Nearly two minutes into the second quarter, St. David’s (16-4) took its first lead, 16-14 after a Lexi Medlin (16 points) jump shot.
After trading leads for the rest of the quarter, the Warriors went into the halftime break ahead 31-28 largely in part to the play of Tiffany Bartholomew, who had 15 points and nine rebounds at intermission.
“We talked about getting the ball inside, getting it to Tiffany and attacking there first instead of settling for the jump shot,” St. David’s coach Alan Hinnant said.
Bartholomew stayed hot into the second half, as did Cary Christian’s Grace Smith, who finished 21 points.
As a result, neither team led by more than three until 30 seconds remained in the third quarter when St. David’s Madeline Riker hit a mid-range jumper to give the Warriors a 46-41 advantage.
Trailing by as many as eight during the fourth quarter, the Knights cut the lead to three with less than 10 seconds to go after a Marie Thompson (15 points) 3-pointer.
The Knights, however, were unable to find an equalizer, facing a full-court press with seven seconds to go.
“We were coming off a big win last night from a buzzer-beater (over Grace Christian) and we carried that momentum into tonight,” Hinnant said.
Bartholomew, who won tournament most valuable player, finished with 27 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.
“She started here as an eighth-grader and she’s always been a dominant force,” Hinnant said. “She’s strong, she’s athletic, and when she puts her mind … towards being physical, she’s tough to stop.”
Boys
St. David’s (20-3) took the lead quickly – scoring 26 points in the first quarter – and made it an advantage it didn’t relinquish, trouncing Grace (13-10) in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
The Warriors led by as many as 18, but a robust shooting night from the Eagles’ Leonte and Oslbey Mercer, closed the gap to as close as 65-56 late.
Oslbey led the way with 31 points and five 3-pointers. Leonte notched 16 points and five assists – all to his older brother.
Robbie O’Han (23), Kris Monroe (25) and Ben Brown (13) all scored in double figures for the Knights.
“That’s the way we always want to play. Having multiple weapons and not having to rely on one guy,” Coley said.
Monroe, who ended the night with a breakaway slam with seven seconds to go, was named the tournament’s MVP.
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 10:28 PM with the headline "St. David’s girls and boys roll in EPIC 2A title basketball games."