D8 Senior: Eagles score 5 in final 23 seconds and Buzzer-Beat Rez

I know the St. David Celtics and Monsignor Doyle Mustangs will have something to say about it, but if today's D8 tilt at St. Mary's was a finals preview then we might be in for a treat.

The St. Mary's Eagles got a Kueth Geng three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Resurrection Phoenix 53-50 today at the Eagles' nest. Geng's three-ball was one of seven that the Eagles hit on the day, compared to just one for Resurrection.

The Eagles trailed by 2 (52-50) with 23 seconds left after Rez's John Moi made 1-of-2 from the line. St. Mary's pushed the ball down the floor and got a Ben Bankazo layup with about a dozen ticks on the clock.

Resurrection then attempted to hurry down for the final shot but turned the ball over with just over 6 seconds left to play. After inbounding the ball, PG Isaac Lance dished off to Geng who hit the shot as the buzzer sounded. Geng had scored just one other basket in the game, but made the big shot when it counted.

The Eagles jumped out to a first-quarter lead of 21-13, but Rez turned the tables in the second to go into halftime down just one (33-32). The second half was D8 "grind it out" basketball (20-18 St. Mary's).

Rez had their chances down the stretch, and they'll probably be kicking themselves for this one. However, poor free throw shooting and untimely turnovers proved enough to do Resurrection in.

Grade eleven rookies Alex Thompson (14) and Isaac Lance (11) were the high scorers for St. Mary's. Another rookie, Mike Pereira, led Rez with 13 points while Matt Stocco added 10.

Oh, and I'd also like to thank the Eagles for making my 3-point prediction ring true.

Despite today's win by the Eagles, they haven't "quite" wrapped up first spot----though they definitely have the inside track. Resurrection, though, still holds the +/- tiebreaker (+2) so if the Eagles were to fall to Doyle and Rez beat St. Benedict in their final games, Rez would end up first.

RCSS 11-21-09-09 = 50
SMHS 19-14-07-13 = 53

Boxscore ---- FG Made, FT-Att, Pts.

RCSS (50)
J. Moi 0 1-2 1, M. Tyler 0 3-3 3, M. Pereira 6 1-2 13, B. Lee 2 0-0 5, A. Mwangi 3 3-5 9, T. Schneider 4 1-5 9, M. Stocco 3 4-7 10, R. Herron 0 0-0 0, J. Rodrigues 0 0-0 0.

Three-Point Goals: 1 (B. Lee 1). Free-Throws: 13-21, .619

SMHS (53)
I. Lance 3 2-2 11, D. Thompson 2 1-1 6, A. Thompson 5 3-3 14, J. Gibson 1 0-0 3, B. Bankazo 3 2-5 8, K. Geng 2 0-0 5, T. Huynh 1 1-2 3, M. Kasunic 1 1-4 3, Z. Hannah 0 0-0 0.

Three-Point Goals: 7 (I. Lance 3, D. Thompson 1, A. Thompson 1, J. Gibson 1, K. Geng 1). Free-Throws: 11-18, .611