The McCallie Blue Tornado basketball team had its toughest test of the season on Friday night, but they seemed to pass with flying colors.
Facing arch-rival Baylor at McCallie’s Sports & Activities Center before a standing-room only crowd, the home team overcame a fast start by the Red Raiders to win by a final score of 55-46, McCallie improving to 18-1 overall and 1-0 in region play with its 13th straight victory.
McCallie coach David Conrady said before the game that a key for his team would be their ability to match Baylor’s physical style of play.
For the most part, his kids were able to do just that as they made Baylor play catch-up in the second half after building a nice lead at the end of three quarters.
“It took us a little bit to get settled in as we weren’t ready for Baylor’s fast pace, but we have several guys who can step up and make plays and that was the difference in the game. I’m sure that we can build on this as we have to keep getting better, but there was a lot of emotion in this game and I thought my guys showed a lot of maturity in how they handled it,” he began his post-game comments.
“I thought we did a nice job of handling their pressure for the most part and we were able to hit some key free throws at the end, but we aren’t the team we can be yet.
“I was really proud of Kollin Claridy, who is really a skilled player and basically let the game come to him. We also did a nice job of finding him. And I thought that David Craig was a difference maker as well. He didn’t score all that much, but he caused a lot of problems for Baylor around the basket. But we just have to keep working to get better,” the veteran coach added.
Baylor coach Mark Price didn’t have a whole lot to say after the game where his team dropped to 13-5 overall and 1-1 in region play.
“I thought McCallie played well and we didn’t play as well as he needed to,” he said while talking to other Baylor coaches in the hall following the game.
“We battled and I’m proud of the effort we put forth to get back in it and gave ourselves a chance. I know we play these guys again in two weeks and I’m hoping that we’ll be more healthy then than we are right now,” he added.
Al Peciulis, perhaps Baylor’s best player, missed his second straight game after suffering an ankle injury last Friday against Notre Dame. Evan Haynie was another Baylor player still sidelined by injury. No doubt their presence would have made a difference, but coach Price isn’t about to use that as an excuse for getting beat.
“Injuries are just a fact of life in the game of basketball and everyone deals with them. We hope to have those two back soon,” he nodded.
Claridy, who scored 21 points to lead both teams in scoring, sank a short jumper in the lane to give McCallie a 2-0 lead, but freshman Zane Restelli scored nine of his game-high 16 points in the opening quarter as Baylor had a 15-12 lead at the first break.
Cam Sparks sank the first of two free throws to start the second stanza as Baylor’s lead grew to four points, but McCallie used a 9-0 run in the next five minutes to regain the lead with Claridy scoring five points during that stretch.
A 3 by Milos Stijepovic with 1:17 left before intermission stretched McCallie’s lead to 24-18 before buckets by Jack Shutters and Eli Sparkman in the final minute made it a two-point game at the half.
A three-point play by Sparkman with 6:34 left in the third knotted the score at 27 while a reverse layup by Joad Rego gave Baylor its last lead at 29-28 with 5:25 on the clock.
Sparkman made the first of two free throws with 4:30 left to tie the score at 30 before the Blue Tornado finished the quarter on a 12-2 run for a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining.
McCallie had its biggest lead of the game at 48-34 with five minutes to play following a putback by David Craig and that’s when Baylor applied intense defensive pressure.
Reese Frazier and Restelli hit back-to-back 3s to get Baylor within 50-44 with just under two minutes remaining, but McCallie was able to keep the upper hand by sinking five of six free throws in the last minute, including four straight by Parker Robison in the last 41 seconds that extended McCallie’s final margin of victory to nine points.
While Claridy set the pace for McCallie with his 21 points, Stijepovic was next with 14. Craig finished with eight points and Robison with seven.
Restelli’s 16 points was tops for Baylor while Sparkman was next with 10. Nyziah Whaley finished with eight.
McCallie also had an unofficial 20-18 advantage in rebounds as Claridy grabbed six for the Blue Tornado. Stijepovic and Craig also had four each.
Whaley was tops for Baylor with six while Restelli snagged five.
Baylor will host Marist in its next game on Tuesday while McCallie will travel to Chattanooga Christian next Friday for its next game.
BAYLOR 15 7 10 14 -- 46
McCALLIE 12 12 18 13 -- 55
BAYLOR (46) – Whaley 8, Eli Sparkman 10, Zane Restelli 16, Sparks 3, Rego 2, Frazier 3, Shutters 4.
McCALLIE (55) – Kwasigroch, Rankin 5, Kollin Claridy 21, Milos Stijepovic 14, Robison 7, Elliott, Craig 8.
3-POINT GOALS: Baylor 3 (Restelli 2, Frazier); McCallie 4 (Claridy, Stijepovic 2, Robison).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)