The Arts & Sciences basketball team takes a timeout during Friday's Region 3-A semifinals. The Patriots defeated Silverdale Baptist, 59-50.
photo by Jaime Barrett
Clinging to a one-point lead with less than three minutes remaining isn’t the ideal position for any team, especially not one playing in an elimination game.
The pressure and the stakes were high for the Arts & Sciences boys in Friday night’s Region 3-A basketball semifinal at South Pittsburg, but the Patriots outscored Silverdale by a 12-4 margin in the final minutes and held on for a 59-50 victory.
The win puts CSAS in Saturday’s 8 p.m. Eastern championship game against Van Buren County, which edged Boyd-Buchanan 58-56 in the late game.
“Elimination games always make coaches want to throw up,” Arts & Sciences coach Mark Dragoo said. “But that's the fun of it. You want to be successful, and you know that one team's not going to be playing after tonight.”
Silverdale, which defeated the Patriots the last time the District 5 opponents faced off, led for most of the first half before Miguel Hamilton’s two free throws put CSAS up 23-22 with just under a minute before halftime.
The Patriots took a one-point lead into the break, and the battle continued in the third quarter. The CSAS defense sparked a run that gave the Patriots an eight-point lead with less than two minutes left, but Silverdale responded with a three-point play from Michael Hawkins. He then tied the score at 41 in the opening minutes of the fourth before Darrius Graves came through with a basket, a rebound and an assist in a 6-0 CSAS run.
Hawkins, who finished with a game-high 18 points, followed a 3-pointer from Jordan Delashmitt with a basket to get the Seahawks within 47-46 with 3:22 left in the fourth quarter.
The turning point for the Patriots came when Todd Lansden returned from the bench, where he headed in frustration minutes earlier after picking up his fourth foul, and nailed a shot to give his team a three-point lead. A walk on Silverdale’s next possession was followed by a basket from Graves, who then had a key offensive rebound that resulted in a basket from Hamilton to put CSAS up 53-48.
“Silverdale has improved a lot, but I think we wore them down,” Dragoo said. “That's what we were trying to do, to keep man pressure, especially on their guards. I think that helped us down the stretch.”
Hamilton went 4-for-4 from the line in the final minute to help close out the 59-50 win, and joined Graves and Lansden in tying for the team high with 13 points apiece for the Patriots, now 24-5.
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)
Region 3-A boys semifinals
At South Pittsburg
ARTS & SCIENCES 59, SILVERDALE BAPTIST 50
Silverdale 10 14 12 14 -- 50
CSAS 6 19 16 18 -- 59
Silverdale (50) -- Jordan Delashmitt 16, Walls 4, Keylon 4, Mossberg, Sanders, Boggess 8, Michael Hawkins 18, Dohmier.
CSAS (59) -- Carter 4, Moorer 8, Alford 1, Miguel Hamilton 13, Brown 2, Darrius Graves 13, Dodds 5, Todd Lansden 13, Fuller.
3-point goals: Silverdale 1 (Delashmitt); CSAS none.
VAN BUREN COUNTY 58, BOYD-BUCHANAN 56
Boyd-Buchanan 11 21 10 14 -- 56
Van Buren County 15 12 14 17 -- 58
Boyd-Buchanan (56) -- Cade Evans 29, Cooper Hodge 11, Macon 6, Rogers 4, Walker 2, Clarke 2, Jackson, Antwine.
Van Buren County (58) -- Drew Roberts 23, Caden Mills 22, Binkley 4, Walker 3, Crain 3, Pettit 2, Walling 1, Shockley, Duncan.
3-point goals: Boyd-Buchanan 3 (Hodge 2, Evans); Van Buren County 5 (Roberts 3, Walker, Crain).