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It was an evening of basketball excitement Friday night as St James Catholic School in Millstadt hosted Immaculate Conception School of Columbia in a pair of basketball contests. The 8th Grade Lady Trojans of St James faced the 8th Grade Lady Crusaders of Immaculate Conception at 6:30 followed by the 8th Grade boy’s game at 8:00 p.m. The St James girl’s team won their contest and the boy’s team completed the sweep winning 50-42 in overtime.
It was also Parents Night for the 8th Grade boy’s team honoring the 8th Grade players and their parents before the game. 8th Grade players who were recognized with their parents were Kyle Sweeney, Zach Skaer, Cole Rakers and Richie Donald. St James Trojans Coach Shaun Johnston said of his 8th graders, “That’s a special group of boys. They‘ve been playing for two years. We only had one 8th grader last year, so we’ve played fifty plus games with these kids the last two years. We’ll miss them for sure.”
Coach Shaun Johnston and his St James Trojans were very familiar with the ICS Crusaders having beaten them earlier this season in a close game for Third Place in the 41st Annual Bing Alberter Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament. But knowing what to expect and being able to execute against it are often two different things. So with a packed house in the Albert Freund Parish Center gymnasium, expectations and spirits were high in anticipation of an exciting game.
The Trojans came out firing in the first quarter taking control and setting the tempo. Playing good defense and executing their offense well the Trojans took control and had the Crusaders playing their game as they edged out to a 13-4 lead after one quarter.
But the Crusaders stormed back in the second quarter with a 9-2 run to open the quarter and get them to within two points at 15-13 with 3:40 left in the half. Points didn’t come in bunches but the Crusaders defense held while their offense chipped away at the Trojans lead. Crusader shooting heated up while the Trojans went cold and ICS outscored St James 14-8 in the second quarter to close to within three points 21-18 at the half.
The third quarter began much like the first quarter did. The Trojans came out enthused and energized going on a 6-0 run to start the quarter. Once again the Trojans defense set the tone creating offensive opportunities. But the Crusaders didn’t wait for the fourth quarter to turn things around. The Crusader defense made some stops and they knocked down some shots to keep the Trojans from pulling away tying the game at 31-31 to end the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter the ICS Crusaders managed to take their first lead of the game 34-33 with 5:30 remaining in the game and extended it to 38-33 with 3:30 remaining. Play began to get physical as both teams now had a sense of urgency to their game in the closing minutes. With momentum in the Crusaders favor the Trojans fought their way back getting it a point at a time from the free throw line in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter until Sam Haudrich drained a three pointer making it 40-39 ICS with just 35.7 seconds left in regulation. Coach Johnston said, “Sam didn’t score much tonight but he made the big three pointer to get us back in the game. We have to have him score for us to be successful. We need his outside shot.“ With 16.7 seconds left Sam Haudrich fouled a Crusader to stop the clock and ICS took a timeout. The Trojans fouled the Crusaders twice more before the Crusaders went to the free throw line for a one-and-one with 11.7 seconds left in the game. The Crusaders got the front end of the one and one making it 41-39 ICS. The Crusaders missed the back end of the one-and-one and the Trojans Kyle Sweeney grabbed the rebound, drove the length of the court to score with less than 4 seconds remaining tying the game at 41-41. The Crusaders were unable to score in the few remaining seconds and the game went to overtime.
For the first minute and a half of overtime neither team scored, but for the last two and a half minutes of overtime it was all Trojans. The Trojans got scoring from Kyle Sweeney, Zach Skaer and Jordan McFarland in overtime as they outscored the Crusaders 9-1 in overtime to win 50-42. Coach Johnston said after the game, “This is why I coach, when you get to be a part of games like this. We knew this was going to be a tight one. Every time you think you’re going to put them away they come back with a three or make a great defensive play to come back. This is a good win for us over a good team.”
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