Baylor Boys In D-II Finals With Win Over Briarcrest

NASHVILLE – Friday was a bittersweet day for Baylor School’s basketball program.

It was a day to remember for the Baylor boys as they beat Briarcrest in the Division II state tournament semifinals while it was a day to forget for the Lady Red Raiders as they got mercy-ruled by Brentwood Academy here at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena.

Saturday’s has Brentwood Academy facing Ensworth in the girls championship at 5:30 (CST) while the Baylor boys will face Brentwood Academy in that final, which is supposed to start about 7:30.

BAYLOR BOYS 45, BRIARCREST 44: Senior guard Tre Jackson picked up his fourth personal foul on a questionable call with 5:26 left in the third quarter and spent more time on the bench than he would have preferred, but he more than made up for it by sinking the first of two free throws with less than a second remaining as the Red Raiders eliminated the Saints.

Briarcrest came in with a 28-3 record and a winning streak of seven games, but that didn’t seem to matter to Baylor coach Austin Clark and his group who entered Friday’s play with an 18-6 record.

“We were hoping to get a last-second shot and we ended up with a decent look,” said Clark afterward.

“The good news is that it all worked out in our favor.  We came up here this weekend with the goal of winning a state championship.  Now we just have to win one more game.  I’m sure it will be a challenge, no matter who it is,” he continued.

And what about his decision to send Jackson back in the game at the last minute?

“We base our substitutions on need more than anything else.  He’s been our captain and our leader all year.  Too often, coaches get too much credit for winning games like this, but it took everyone doing their part today.  It’s not a matter of X’s and O’s but Jimmy and Joe’s,”Clark concluded with a smile.

Baylor hit five of its first eight field goal attempts in the first quarter and were ahead 15-11 when that first eight-minute segment ended.

The Saints had the hot hand in the second stanza as they sank seven of 10, including all three from 3-point range. 

Cedric Henderson had a steal and a slam with 2:50 to play to give Briarcrest a 28-20 lead, but Baylor responded with seven unanswered points to trail by a point at the break.

The third quarter was more defense than offense with Baylor having a 6-5 scoring edge for a 33-33 tie with one quarter remaining.

Henderson sank a jumper from the line with 5:25 to play for a 39-35 Briarcrest lead, but freshman Randy Brady sank three of four three throws in the next two minutes to get Baylor within 39-38.

Beyuan Hendricks sank two more charity tosses with 2:17 to get Baylor with 41-40 and it was a frantic finish from that point on.

Big Niko Simpkins was in the right place at the right time and picked up a loose ball down low following a Baylor miss.  He was fouled as he converted the put back before sinking the free throw for a 43-41 Baylor lead with 53.7 seconds left.

Boris Ristanovic hit the second of two free throws with 29.2 seconds left for a three-point edge.

Kennedy Chandler then swished a 3 to tie the score with 15.5 seconds, leading to Baylor’s final timeout when Clark sent Jackson back in.

The senior then made it all count when he sank the first free throw with nine-tenths of a second remaining.

Needless to say, a big celebration took place with Baylor players and fans once the final horn sounded.

“That was a weird play at the end, but I slapped the ball and hoped that a teammate would be there.  Tre stepped up and made the one that counted at the end,” said Patrick Urey, one of four Baylor seniors.

“I think we were well prepared for them, but this win really means a lot to us.  Our goal coming in was to win and advance.  That’s what we did.  Now it’s just one more game,” he concluded.

Brady scored 13 points to lead the Baylor offense while Urey followed with 10 and Simpkins nine.  Hendricks added eight.

Henderson was tops for the Saints with 11.

Baylor finished the game shooting 42.9 percent from the field on 15 of 35 shots made while the Saints hit 53.3 percent on 16 of 30.

The Saints also won the rebound battle by a 20-18 margin, but they didn’t win the category that mattered most and that was the final score.

BRENTWOOD ACADEMY GIRLS 73, BAYLOR 31:  The Lady Eagles beat Baylor twice during the regular season by an average of 26 points.

Friday’s game was a whole lot more lopsided.

Raegan Conley sank the second of two free throws in the first minute of the game for Baylor’s only lead at 1-0.

It only got worse.

A 6-5 lead by the Lady Eagles was 20-8 when the first quarter ended.

A 19-4 run in the last five minutes of the second quarter stretched that lead to 45-19 by intermission.

The lead was 61-25 when the third quarter ended, allowing the mercy rule to be used in the fourth where the clock just keeps running.

Brentwood Academy improves to 28-2 with its 22^nd straight win.  Coach Rhonda Brown was obviously happy with the final result, but a win on Saturday ranks higher on her scale of important wins.

“This is really a special group of young ladies and we know what it feels like on both sides of a game like this.  Our goal was to disrupt their offense and I felt like we did a good job of that, but today wasn’t much of a surprise to me.

“We enjoy playing in March and we just continue to raise the bar.  We’re happy that we played well today, but tomorrow is the one that counts.  We beat Ensworth twice this year, but I can promise you they won’t give it to us,” she added.

Baylor coach John Gibson just stated the facts during his post-game comments.

“Give them all the credit because they have a great team and a lot of great players,” he said in reference to the fact that four will be signing Division I scholarships to play in college next year.

“I’m proud that my young kids battled the whole time and I’m happy that nine of our 14 players are freshmen.  We just didn’t play well today and I’m sure that they had a lot to do with that, but we’ll be okay.  We have a lot to be proud of,” he added.

Makaila Wilson and Sydni Harvey led the winners with 22 and 17 points, respectively, while Kallie Searcy was also in double figures with 10.

Conley was tops for Baylor with seven points.  Cheyenne Lindsey finished with six.

BOYS SUMMARY

BRIARCREST  11  17  5  11  --  44

BAYLOR  15  12  6  12  --  45

BRIARCREST (44) – Henderson 11, Smith, Batts 8, Sivils 8, Brigham 9, Chandler 6, Small, Neely, Davis 2, Hunt.

BAYLOR (45) – Urey 10, Simpkins 9, Jackson 4, Hendricks 8, Brady 13, Pruitt, Ristanovic 1, Pippenger.

3-POINT GOALS: Briarcrest 6-15 (Henderson 0-1, Batts 2-3, Sivils 2-7, Brigham 0-1, Chandler 2-3); Baylor 5-14 (Urey 2-5, Jackson 1-1, Hendricks 2-4, Brady 0-1, Pruitt 0-1, Ristanovic 0-1, Pippenger 0-1.

GIRLS SUMMARY

BAYLOR  8  11  6  6  --  31

BRENTWOOD ACADEMY 20  25  16  12  --  73

BAYLOR (31) – Lindsey 6, Redman, Willis 2, Conley 7, Gordon 5, Martin 2, Barton 3, Restelli 2, Rye, Keller, Johnson, Kanavos, McKnight 4.

BRENTWOOD ACADEMY (73) – Harvey 17, Brown 4, Stockhoff 2, Wilson 22, Kovick 5, Chandler, Jones, Brown 6, Graham, Bussard, Schoenwald 1, Clemmer 2, Dunkley 4, Searcy 10.

3-POINT GOALS: Baylor 2-11 (Willis 0-1, Conley 0-2, Gordon 1-2, Barton 1-2, Keller 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Kanavos 0-1, McKnight 0-1); Brentwood Academy 6-15 (Harvey 2-4, Brown 0-1, Stockhoff 0-1, Wilson 2-3, Kovick 0-1, Chandler 0-1, Brown 2-3, Clemmer 0-1).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)