An Upshaw – Gage, not Reggie – put Howard’s unbeaten Hustlin’ Tigers in a precarious situation.
Then Matt Clendenen drove a stake in the Tigers’ heart as Baylor knocked off Howard, 49-48, in a non-district high school basketball game Thursday night at James Duke Arena.
“I thought we played well in spurts,” Baylor coach Austin Clark said. “I don’t think we executed as well as we needed to, but that was our fourth ballgame of the year, and our second without Reggie.”
Senior Reggie Upshaw is out indefinitely with a broken foot and will have surgery Friday. He initially injured his right foot during the football season, but played in the Red Raiders’ first two games – both victories – and scored a combined 47 points.
“He looked like an all-world player in those games,” Clark said of his team’s best player.
But Upshaw didn’t play in Baylor’s 51-46 loss at Walker Valley on Tuesday.
“It’s very iffy (if he’ll return this season), if at all,” Clark said. “We’ll have to wait and see. I told him he has his college scholarship (to Middle Tennessee State) and needs to make sure he does what’s best for him. He doesn’t owe me anything in trying to come back.”
Upshaw was in street clothes and wearing a walking boot at Thursday’s game, encouraging his teammates for the entire 32 minutes.
While Reggie was sidelined, his little brother, Gage, stepped up big time for the Red Raiders (3-1).
Gage Upshaw, a freshman, knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer tied the game at 47-47 with 41.6 seconds left.
“My teammate (Jeff Bowens) found me and I was fortunate enough to make it,” said Upshaw, who scored seven points. “I just caught the ball and did what coach Clark told me to do – shoot it.”
Upshaw’s bucket were the first points for Baylor since junior Amedeo Giussani drove the lane for a layup over Howard’s 6-foot-8-inch, 270-pound post Brandon Walters and a 45-44 lead with 3:58 on the clock.
“Gage is a freshman and he’s got confidence,” Clark said. “It was good of his teammates to find him and he had the courage to shoot it. You miss all the shots you don’t take.”
Howard also had trouble scoring in the fourth quarter.
Walters, who led all scorers with 23 points, got one his many putbacks to give the Tigers (6-1) a 45-42 lead with 5:57 remaining.
However, Howard didn’t score again until senior RaShad Brummitt made two free throws with 52.8 seconds left to give the Tigers a 47-44 advantage.
Fouled by Clendenen, Walters hit the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw, but missed the second, with 21.9 seconds left and Clendenen retrieved the loose and raced down court.
The junior, who had 13 points, powered through the Tigers’ defense and made a layup to give Baylor a 49-48 lead with 13.3 seconds left in the game.
After a timeout, Howard put the ball in play and quickly went to Walters in the post. Walters got control of the ball and went up with a Baylor defender in front of him and one behind him.
Walters was unaware of Clendenen’s presence.
Clendenen cleanly swatted the ball away from Walters and Baylor started celebrating as time ran out.
“In the last nine seconds, we were planning on playing tight zone and either make them hit a 3 to beat us or pressure the ball to try and kill some time,” Clark said. “It’s tough and you have to keep working at it. We had been trying to box (Walters) out, but he’s so big. Matt was there, but you couldn’t see him. He doesn’t bring the ball down so those little guards can get it from him. He’s a good little, uh, big player.”
Clendenen was asked which play – the go-ahead layup or the block on Walters – was his biggest contribution to the victory.
“Probably the block,” he said. “We focused a lot on defense and what we could do. (Walters) is a great player and it’s hard to stop him. My teammate stepped in front of him. He’s so big I just got lucky and got the block.”
It was a tough loss for the Tigers.
“We just didn’t finish,” Howard coach Walter McGary said. “Our kids played their hearts out, but we just couldn’t finish the game. They got a lot of layups, rebounds and we made a lot of turnovers. When you play five people it’s hard to be in condition to do that.”
Knowing Walters was stationed in the paint and 6-5 Reggie Upshaw was on the bench with Clark, the Red Raiders came out firing 3s. Six of Baylor’s first nine made field goals were from behind the arc.
Walters had 10 points at halftime and the Tigers went to the locker room with a 26-25 lead, the one-point edge resulting from Xavier Harris muscling up for a putback with 2:17 left in the second quarter.
The third quarter was nip-and-tuck the entire eight minutes.
Giussani, who is from Switzerland and is flying home on Friday for the Christmas break, hit back-to-back 3s around Brummitt’s baseline jumper and the Red Raiders led 31-28.
Giussani beat Walters on a baseline drive and Baylor had a 35-31 lead with 4:49 left in the quarter.
Walters hit two straight shots and Howard was up 39-38 with 2:09 on the clock. Gage Upshaw made a short bank shot and Baylor went ahead, 40-39.
Walters’ layup with 36.2 seconds to go gave Howard a 41-40 cushion heading into the fourth quarter.
Brummitt, who scored 10 points, hit a jumper from the right win and pushed the Tigers ahead, 43-40.
Giussani grabbed Clay Born’s errant 3-pointer, stuck it back in and the Red Raiders were within 43-42 with 6:50 remaining. That set up the final hectic minutes.
“It was a big win,” said Giussani, a 6-4 sophomore. “It was Howard so we had to play very physical and crash the boards. We played tough and deserved (the win). We fought to the end, even when we were down.”
Giussani was giving up about 70 pounds anytime he challenged Walters in the lane.
“It was difficult to drive in there,” he said. “He’s a big presence and we had a lot of balls blocked, so we took more outside shots. It was even more difficult to play defense on him. We had to have two or three guys on him and it was a great team effort.”
With Giussani heading home, Clark will be working with just eight players through the holiday break that includes a home game Tuesday against Bradley Central, and appearances in Fort Payne (Ala.) and Best of Preps tournaments.
“I have to find out what we can do as a team,” Clark said. “Getting through the Christmas break won’t be pretty.”
Baylor girls 53, Howard 35: The Lady Red Raiders (2-5) used a 17-0 run – Kaleigh Clemons scored eight points in the spree, including two 3s – in the second quarter to wipe out Howard’s 16-13 lead and take control of the game.
Leading, 40-25, Baylor unleashed a 11-2 run on Howard and had a 51-27 advantage with 6:37 remaining.
Clemons led Baylor with 12 points. Crosby Huckabay had 11 points and Abby Hubert finished with 10. Clemons, Huckabay and Hubert are freshmen and starters.
Deroneasha Smartt led Howard (4-1) with a game-high 19 points.
GIRLS SUMMARY
Howard 9 10 9 8 – 35
Baylor 8 22 15 8 – 53
Howard (35) – King 8, Deroneasha Smartt 19, Davis, Rollins, Smith 5, Finch 1, Williams.
Baylor (53) – Kaleigh Clemons 12, Karman, Carter, Simpkins 8, Kaufman 7, Abby Hubert 10, Birdsong 3, Crosby Huckabay 11, Popp, McMahon 2, Smith.
3-Point Goals – Howard None; Baylor 4 (Clemons 2, Kaufman, Huckabay).
BOYS SUMMARY
Howard 9 17 15 7 – 48
Baylor 8 17 15 9 – 49
Howard (48) – McCauley 3, Smith 5, Brummitt 7, Harris 10, Walters 23, Walton.
Baylor (49) – Born 8, Bowens 3, Linehart, Matt Clendenen 13, Maum 3, G. Upshaw 7, Seaberg, Lupas, Amedeo Giussani 15.
3-Point Goals – Howard 1 (McCauley); Baylor 7 (Giussani 3, Born 2, Clendenen, G.Upshaw).
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming@gmail.com)