Champs again
Knights conquer Freedom in OT 65-63 to repeat as CPIC kings
By Tom Ham Senior Staff Writer
Despite the clutch heroics of sophomore Tyler Maye, the Greenfield School varsity boys basketball team couldn't complete the championship assignment in regulation Saturday night.
However, Will Crandell, a 6-foot-4 senior, sealed the deal in the four-minute overtime in the Greenfield School gym.
Crandell drove to the basket and scored with a fraction over 2 seconds remaining to vault the 1-A Knights to the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference tournament championship with a draining 65-63 conquest of 2-A Freedom Christian of Fayetteville.
Still, the nail-biter was not over. Freedom Christian managed a time-out with 2 seconds on the clock. Nathaniel Jack, a junior from Canada, hauled in a pass thrown nearly the length of the court. Jack scrambled toward the basket as freshman defender Coby White frantically recovered. Jack, pressured by White, missed the layup at the buzzer.
The sequence ended with Freedom head coach Dan Pruessner pleading for a call. However, a Greenfield player being charged with a foul was not his main request.
"I wanted goaltending," Pruessner explained. "I thought his hand went through the basket or, at least, interfered with the basket. But it was tough - it was a bang-bang play."
And, bang-bang, the Patriots lost at Greenfield on a last-second shot for the second time in eight days. On Friday, Feb. 6, Maye drilled in a 3-point shot at the buzzer to send Greenfield to the win that would enable it to share the regular-season crown with Freedom.
The sixth-consecutive Greenfield-Freedom outcome decided by three points or less boosted the Knights into the 1-A playoffs with a 24-8 record. The Knights of head coach Rob Salter earned the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye. Greenfield, the state 1-A runner-up last year, will play the winner between No. 5 Erwin Cape Fear Christian (17-12) and No. 12 Henderson Crossroads Christian (16-7) in Thursday's quarterfinals at Asheville Christian Academy.
Freedom, now 20-6, is the No. 5 seed in the 2-A bracket.
Greenfield forged an 11-point lead at the outset of the second half and was upon the verge of celebrating the tournament championship in reguation. Maye converted a steal into a layup that produced a 58-57 Greenfield lead with 1:05 left in regulation.
Freedom committed a violation some 23 seconds later. However, the Knights failed to connect on the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity at the foul line, and Freedom rebounded and got a time-out with 27.7 seconds showing. Then, the Patriots committed another turnover and Maye staked the Knights to a 60-57 edge with a pair of free throws with 17.8 seconds left.
Suddenly, the score was knotted 60-60 when Freedom's Gunnar Hardarson, a senior from Iceland, bombed in a 3-point shot with 10-plus seconds remaing. Greenfield got a time-out with 8.6 ticks left, but its shot just before the buzzer was blocked.
In overtime, a free throw and 6-4 senior A.J. Sanders' bucket was matched by a trio of free throws from Freedom Christian junior guard Michael Melvin.
Salter requested a time-out to draw up a play. The Patriots were well aware Maye decked them in the last meeting and the Knights anticipated them focusing defensive attention upon Maye. They did.
"We really thought they might bite," Salter said. "We thought they might jump on it - and they did. I was so proud of how we executed that last set."
Salter praised Maye for an excellent decision upon being double-teamed by the Patriots.
"When they doubled (Maye), he handed the basketball to me and I went up like a man - hoping to draw a foul," Crandell reviewed. "Coach drew it up for Tyler to drive and attack. Instead, he did a drop-down pass to me."
Coming off a performance of 23 points and seven rebounds in the semifinals win against archrival Wayne Country Day, Crandell responded with 19 points and six rebounds. The showing earned him acclaim as the tournament's most valuable player.
"Amazing!" Crandell clamored of the distinction, "but I am most happy the team got the win."
A.J. Sanders, a 6-4 senior who was dominant in the first half, tossed in 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Maye scored 14 points.
Marko Tomic, a 6-8 senior from Serbia, keyed Freedom with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Tomic missed the last game against the Knights - as did sophomore guard Todd Smith, who remained sidelined with an ankle injury. Hardarson wound up with 15 points and Thank God Msughter, a 6-7 junior from Nigeria, stuffed in 12.
"Both teams tried to give it away a couple of times," Salter noted the late-game errors. "But these were two very good teams playing their hearts out - and that's what you want."
Crandell fired in 14 second-half and overtime points - including the final two. Salter not only heaped praise upon Crandell but upon Maye for "making a couple of big plays to help us win this game."
Of Sanders, Salter added: "I was just as proud of A.J. on the defensive end, chasing (Hardarson) all night."
Freedom's Pruessner lamented: "It was a good learning experience, but we couldn't hit anything from the perimeter. We average eight 3s a game, but tonight ..."
The Patriots were limited to just three accurate shots from beyond the arc. However, Pruessner assured his team got the opportunity it wanted at the end of overtime.
"We kind of fell asleep," Salter divulged. "Luckily, he missed it."
Thus, Greenfield reigns as the CPIC tournament champion for the third consecutive year and, as Crandell commented: "It feels great. It's a step in the right direction toward the state championsip."
Knights conquer Freedom in OT 65-63 to repeat as CPIC kings
By Tom Ham Senior Staff Writer
Despite the clutch heroics of sophomore Tyler Maye, the Greenfield School varsity boys basketball team couldn't complete the championship assignment in regulation Saturday night.
However, Will Crandell, a 6-foot-4 senior, sealed the deal in the four-minute overtime in the Greenfield School gym.
Crandell drove to the basket and scored with a fraction over 2 seconds remaining to vault the 1-A Knights to the 1-A/2-A Coastal Plain Independents Conference tournament championship with a draining 65-63 conquest of 2-A Freedom Christian of Fayetteville.
Still, the nail-biter was not over. Freedom Christian managed a time-out with 2 seconds on the clock. Nathaniel Jack, a junior from Canada, hauled in a pass thrown nearly the length of the court. Jack scrambled toward the basket as freshman defender Coby White frantically recovered. Jack, pressured by White, missed the layup at the buzzer.
The sequence ended with Freedom head coach Dan Pruessner pleading for a call. However, a Greenfield player being charged with a foul was not his main request.
"I wanted goaltending," Pruessner explained. "I thought his hand went through the basket or, at least, interfered with the basket. But it was tough - it was a bang-bang play."
And, bang-bang, the Patriots lost at Greenfield on a last-second shot for the second time in eight days. On Friday, Feb. 6, Maye drilled in a 3-point shot at the buzzer to send Greenfield to the win that would enable it to share the regular-season crown with Freedom.
The sixth-consecutive Greenfield-Freedom outcome decided by three points or less boosted the Knights into the 1-A playoffs with a 24-8 record. The Knights of head coach Rob Salter earned the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye. Greenfield, the state 1-A runner-up last year, will play the winner between No. 5 Erwin Cape Fear Christian (17-12) and No. 12 Henderson Crossroads Christian (16-7) in Thursday's quarterfinals at Asheville Christian Academy.
Freedom, now 20-6, is the No. 5 seed in the 2-A bracket.
Greenfield forged an 11-point lead at the outset of the second half and was upon the verge of celebrating the tournament championship in reguation. Maye converted a steal into a layup that produced a 58-57 Greenfield lead with 1:05 left in regulation.
Freedom committed a violation some 23 seconds later. However, the Knights failed to connect on the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity at the foul line, and Freedom rebounded and got a time-out with 27.7 seconds showing. Then, the Patriots committed another turnover and Maye staked the Knights to a 60-57 edge with a pair of free throws with 17.8 seconds left.
Suddenly, the score was knotted 60-60 when Freedom's Gunnar Hardarson, a senior from Iceland, bombed in a 3-point shot with 10-plus seconds remaing. Greenfield got a time-out with 8.6 ticks left, but its shot just before the buzzer was blocked.
In overtime, a free throw and 6-4 senior A.J. Sanders' bucket was matched by a trio of free throws from Freedom Christian junior guard Michael Melvin.
Salter requested a time-out to draw up a play. The Patriots were well aware Maye decked them in the last meeting and the Knights anticipated them focusing defensive attention upon Maye. They did.
"We really thought they might bite," Salter said. "We thought they might jump on it - and they did. I was so proud of how we executed that last set."
Salter praised Maye for an excellent decision upon being double-teamed by the Patriots.
"When they doubled (Maye), he handed the basketball to me and I went up like a man - hoping to draw a foul," Crandell reviewed. "Coach drew it up for Tyler to drive and attack. Instead, he did a drop-down pass to me."
Coming off a performance of 23 points and seven rebounds in the semifinals win against archrival Wayne Country Day, Crandell responded with 19 points and six rebounds. The showing earned him acclaim as the tournament's most valuable player.
"Amazing!" Crandell clamored of the distinction, "but I am most happy the team got the win."
A.J. Sanders, a 6-4 senior who was dominant in the first half, tossed in 18 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Maye scored 14 points.
Marko Tomic, a 6-8 senior from Serbia, keyed Freedom with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Tomic missed the last game against the Knights - as did sophomore guard Todd Smith, who remained sidelined with an ankle injury. Hardarson wound up with 15 points and Thank God Msughter, a 6-7 junior from Nigeria, stuffed in 12.
"Both teams tried to give it away a couple of times," Salter noted the late-game errors. "But these were two very good teams playing their hearts out - and that's what you want."
Crandell fired in 14 second-half and overtime points - including the final two. Salter not only heaped praise upon Crandell but upon Maye for "making a couple of big plays to help us win this game."
Of Sanders, Salter added: "I was just as proud of A.J. on the defensive end, chasing (Hardarson) all night."
Freedom's Pruessner lamented: "It was a good learning experience, but we couldn't hit anything from the perimeter. We average eight 3s a game, but tonight ..."
The Patriots were limited to just three accurate shots from beyond the arc. However, Pruessner assured his team got the opportunity it wanted at the end of overtime.
"We kind of fell asleep," Salter divulged. "Luckily, he missed it."
Thus, Greenfield reigns as the CPIC tournament champion for the third consecutive year and, as Crandell commented: "It feels great. It's a step in the right direction toward the state championsip."
