"I scoff at the pool of death," joked St. Mary's assistant coach Jeff Roth after the game, "two games and two wins."
Of course, the reason for his joking demeanor was that both games came right down to the wire and certainly could have gone either way.
The Forest Heights Trojans went into their second pool game knowing that they would need (at least) a 5-point win to be able to advance through to Monday's CWOSSA senior semifinals. They held that edge (53-48) in the fourth but the Eagles closed the game on a 21-8 run to win 69-61, going 2-0 in pool play and advancing through to Monday's action.
The Trojans' season, which had shown so much promise (and a #1 CWOSSA ranking most of the season) ended with the loss.
Of course, the Trojans gave everything they had in this one. Juwan Miller put home 15 and Javon Masters 10 in the first-half --- but the balanced Eagle attack was able to maintain a one-point lead (37-36) after a very exciting up and down first sixteen minutes of action.
In the third quarter, Masters put home 7 points in the first three minutes but the Eagles would "counter punch" and neither team would yet gain control of the contest. FHCI, however, would earn themselves a lead (49-48) entering the fourth.
A layup and jumper by Masters would extend things through to the magic number (5 points) at 53-48 for Forest Heights, but St. Mary's would battle back to make it 53-52 before Masters hit his second three of the contest for a 4-point Trojan lead (56-52).
St. Mary's Alex Thompson, though, came right back the other way with a pull-up three-pointer that splashed down and cut things to 56-55, midway through the final frame.
On the ensuing possession, Miller went hard to the rim and got a hoop and some harm to restore the 4-point FHCI lead.
To continue the "back and forth" trend of the contest, reserve guard Tyler Hergott drilled a 3 for St. Mary's on the very next possession as the Eagles cut things back to one. Hergott then stole the ball on the next FHCI trip down the floor, although the Eagles were unable to take the lead for the time being.
With under 1:20 left, the Eagles came up with a steal but after a mad scramble, Juwan Miller dove on the ball and the referees granted the Trojans a timeout (1:10 on the clock). Alex Thompson fouled out soon after, which had Eagle supporters wary of the overtime potential (although his foul was non-shooting and just the 5th on the Eagles in the half).
Henry Bankazo gave the Eagles the lead (62-61) with under 1:00 to go, on a tough basket inside.
Henry Bankazo gave the Eagles the lead (62-61) with under 1:00 to go, on a tough basket inside.
In the absence of Thompson, his 5th year teammate, Eagles' guard Isaac Lance took the game over on the defensive side of the ball. He came up with a steal that (eventually) led to Telloy Simon having to be fouled and converting 1-of-2 for a 2-point Eagle lead (63-61).
In the game-changer, Lance drew a charge with 30 seconds left, and off of the ensuing inbounds, Simon made 2 more free-throws for a two-possession lead. Isaac Lance would add two more free-throws and an uncontested layup in the waning seconds to send the Eagles through to the semifinals.
Four Eagles finished in double-figures, including Alex Thompson (21), Henry Bankazo (12), Adam Voll (11) and Isaac Lance (10). All 7 Eagles who saw action scored, as Telloy Simon (7), Tyler Hergott (5) and Delondo Hibbert (3) rounded out the scoring.
Forest Heights, as usual, was led by their dynamic duo; Masters had 24 and Miller 20 in this one. Other Trojans on the scoresheet were Adrian Russell (6), Dylan George (6) and Nienkel Pal-Jola (5).
Boxscore
FHCI 18-18-13-12 = 61
SMHS 23-14-11-21 = 69
St. Mary's
I. Lance 3-6 FG, 2-2 FT, 2 Reb, 2 Ast - 10 Pts.
H. Bankazo 5-7 FG, 1-6 FT, 7 Reb, 3 Ast - 12 Pts.
A. Thompson 9-18 FG, 2-3 FT, 7 Reb, 1 Ast - 21 Pts.
A. Voll 4-10 FG, 3-3 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Ast - 11 Pts.
T. Simon 1-3 FG, 5-6 FT, 4 Reb, 0 Ast - 7 Pts.
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D. Hibbert 1-3 FG, 1-1 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 3 Pts.
T. Hergott 2-3 FG, 0-2 FT, 2 Reb, 1 Ast - 5 Pts.
Field Goals: 25-50 (.500). Free-Throws: 14-23 (.609). Three-Point Goals: 5-13, .385 (I. Lance 2-3, H. Bankazo 1-1, T. Hergott 1-1, A. Thompson 1-5, A. Voll 0-1, D. Hibbert 0-1, T. Simon 0-1).
Forest Heights
J. Falkenstern 0-6 FG, 0-0 FT, 3 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
A. Russell 3-7 FG, 0-0 FT, 5 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
J. Masters 10-22 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Reb, 4 Ast - 24 Pts.
J. Miller 8-22 FG, 1-3 FT, 5 Reb, 7 Ast - 20 Pts.
D. George 3-5 FG, 0-0 FT, 6 Reb, 0 Ast - 6 Pts.
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N. Pal-Jola 2-4 FG, 0-0 FT, 7 Reb, 0 Ast - 5 Pts.
I. Anderson 0-1 FG, 0-0 FT, 0 Reb, 0 Ast - 0 Pts.
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