Thursday night’s championship semifinals in the Division II, District 2-A basketball tournament at the Silverdale Center provided some unbelievable games with some amazing finishes and folks thought there would be no way that same quality of play could be repeated a day later in the championship games.
They were right. They didn’t equal what we saw on Thursday, but it was darn close as the top-seeded Notre Dame boys and girls both won district titles over Boyd Buchanan.
The Notre Dame boys prevailed by a 39-37 over the Bucs in the final game on Friday night before a standing-room-only crowd where student seconds from both schools stood for the entire game and brought more spirit to the brand new gym than had ever been before.
The Notre Dame girls also won a championship with a 31-30 victory over the Lady Bucs while both Silverdale teams won consolation games, the Lady Seahawks prevailing by 58-42 over Collegedale in the first game on Friday before the Silverdale boys defeated Grace, 53-44.
Both Notre Dame and Boyd Buchanan teams will host games in the region at the start of the week while the third and fourth-place teams will be on the road. The region semfinals and finals will be back at Silverdale next Friday and Saturday.
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP: Top-seeded Notre Dame prevailed over the Lady Bucs by a single point, but it wasn’t easy as both teams battled like there was no tomorrow.
Improving to 23-8 with Friday’s win, the Lady Fighting Irish built a nice lead through the first three quarters, but had to withstand a furious comeback by the Lady Bucs in the final stanza to prevail.
Notre Dame coach Jason Hill was just happy the way the game ended.
“We knew it would be a battle for 32 minutes and it was, but players have to make plays and we made just enough to win,” Hill began after the tournament hardware had been passed out.
“We knew that Boyd Buchanan would come after us late and they did, but I’m just proud that we were able to withstand it. It wasn’t always pretty as we missed too many layups and free throws, but we somehow found a way to win. At the end of the day, we won and that’s all that matters,” the coach continued.
Makyla Skaggs nailed a 3 with 37 seconds left to put the Lady Irish up by five and she added a free throw 12 seconds later to make the difference 31-25, but Notre Dame needed them all as the Lady Bucs scored the final five points, including a 3 by Sarah Durham at the buzzer to make the final a one-point game.
“We really didn’t have the hot hand late, but that was huge for Makyla to step up and make that shot. That may have been the shot of the game for us,” Hill added.
Notre Dame’s lead after three quarters was seemingly comfortable at 24-12, but the Lady Bucs shifted into another gear and made things interesting with their late rally, only to come up a little bit short.
Boyd Buchanan coach Tracey Walker felt like her team gave their best effort, but it wasn’t on the same level as in games past.
“I’m disappointed to lose, but Notre Dame played well. We just didn’t shoot the ball well as we couldn’t throw it in the ocean. It seemed like we were playing to not lose and we were not attacking like we normally do. We may have been a bit leg weary from last night’s game with Silverdale, but this isn’t the team we’ve been all season,” Walker said later.
“The good news is that we didn’t quit and we get to host a game on Monday, but we’ll learn from this game,” she added with a smile.
Kenzie Campbell scored 13 points to lead the Notre Dame offense while Skaggs was next with nine.
Durham scored nine points to lead the Lady Bucs while Dani Reeves was next with seven.
Boyd Buchanan did have an unofficial 25-22 advantage in rebounds as Eva Winston grabbed 10 for the Lady Bucs. Jalisa Sanders had six and Reeves five. Dayonna Perryman had seven rebounds for Notre Dame while Campbell snagged six.
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP: Boyd Buchanan had won this tournament for the past two years, but the third time wasn’t the charm as Notre Dame pulled out a 39-37 victory.
“That was just another typical Notre Dame-Boyd Buchanan battle. I love Josh Templeton and totally respect the job he’s doing at Boyd, so it’s fun and not so much fun when we play each other,” said Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams following the game.
“We tried to focus on defense and make every shot they took tough and I think we succeeded in that effort. Jacob Shockley is a great player and he totally ate us up in this game last year, so a key for us was to slow him down tonight,” the coach continued.
Brodie Johnston scored on a reverse layup with 10 seconds to play to tie the game at 37 before Adams called a timeout with 4.7 seconds to play. Cole McCormick has been one of Notre Dame’s leading scorers all season, but hadn’t scored all game, but he scored on a drive down the lane with a shot at the buzzer that sent the Notre Dame fans into orbit with celebration.
“That’s a play that we just put in last week. I know that Cole had struggled with his shot all game, but he stepped up in the biggest moment and made the biggest shot of the season so far for us,” Adams added.
Boyd Buchanan coach Josh Templeton, like Adams, knew what to expect long before the opening tip.
“What do you expect when these two teams play?” he began his post-game comments.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our effort as we left it all on the court and just came up a little bit short against a really good Notre Dame team. They got off to a fast start and we had a hard time getting the ball inside, but this is the rubber game this year and they won it,” Templeton added.
Notre Dame, improving to 23-7 with its second win over the Bucs in three games, led for most of the game, but the Bucs simply refused to toss in the white towel to surrender.
A 13-5 lead after one quarter was 19-14 at the half while the difference was 30-24 with one quarter remaining.
A layup by Kenny Hammond and back-to-back buckets by Ty Wilkerson extended Notre Dame’s lead to 36-26 with just over five minutes remaining but that’s when the Bucs started their comeback.
Scoring nine of the next 10 points, a pair of free throws by Ryan Lopez with 55.7 seconds left got the Bucs within two before Johnston’s shot at the end.
Overtime looked like a strong possibility at that point, but McCormick had other ideas and scored his only two points at the most critical time.
Tim Vaughn had 12 points to lead Notre Dame while Hammond was next with 11. Lopez was tops for the Bucs with 13 points while Caden Johnson was next with eight. Johnston and Shockley both followed with six each.
GIRLS CONSOLATION: Silverdale’s Lady Seahawks lost a tough game to Boyd Buchanan on Thursday night, but were able to bounce back with a 58-42 win over Collegedale in Friday’s first game.
Kelsie Johnson scored 15 points to lead Silverdale while Lauren Kugler was next with 13. Bentlee Stiner was also in double figures with 10.
Jada McLean topped the Lady Eagles with 18 points while Lexi Kaufman added nine and Avana Im eight.
BOYS CONSOLATION: The Silverdale boys had a tough game in Thursday’s semifinals as they dropped a double-overtime loss to Boyd Buchanan, but much like the girls, they bounced back to get a 53-44 win over Grace.
The Golden Eagles had leads of 16-12 at the end of the first quarter and 25-20 at intermission before the Seahawks found their rhythm, using a 17-8 advantage in the third quarter for a 37-33 lead with one quarter remaining.
Brett Wright, who had 27 points in Thursday’s doozy, was tops for Silverdale again as he finished with 23 points. Caiden Botts was next with eight.
Mason Long scored 22 points for Grace before fouling out late while Eli Ibrahim added nine.
GIRLS ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Anna Rush (Grace); Jada McLean, Avana Im (Collegedale); Bentlee Stiner, Lauren Kugler, Kelsie Johnson, Tori Gibson (Silverdale); Sarah Durham, Dani Reeves, Riley Robertson, Jalisa Sanders (Boyd Buchanan); Claire Mullins, Mikaya Skaggs, Mary Fillauer, Dayonna Perryman, Kenzie Campbell (Notre Dame). Sanders and Campbell earned Co-MVPs while Notre Dame’s Jason Hill was the Coach of the Year.
BOYS ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: Tyler Cantrell (St. Andrews-Sewanee); George Shrode, Jonah Madrigal (Collegedale Academy); Mason Long, Eli Ibrahim (Grace Academy); Brett Wright, Cameron Mullins, Kennedy Okpara, Sam Bambrey (Silverdale); Jaylan Moore, Jacob Shockley, Ryan Lopez, Caden Johnson (Boyd Buchanan); Ty Wilkerson, Tim Vaughn, D.J. Brown, Cole McCormick (Notre Dame). Boyd’s Johnson was the MVP while Notre Dame’s Jonathan Adams was the Coach of the Year.
GIRLS CONSOLATION SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 14 19 17 8 -- 58
COLLEGEDALE 16 6 8 12 -- 42
SILVERDALE (58) – Owen, Canter, Bledsoe 2, Bentlee Stiner 10, Lauren Kugler 13, Olson, Sullivan 7, Stinson 8, Gibson 3, Chastain, Kelsie Johnson 15, Cline, Hensley.
COLLEGEDALE (42) – Ruth 2, Hicks, Jada McLean 18, Moody, Im 8, Trott 4, Kaufman 9, Blandon 1, Childress.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 7 (Kugler 4, Stinson, Johnson 2); Collegedale 3 (McLean, Im 2).
BOYS CONSOLATION SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 12 8 17 16 -- 53
GRACE 16 9 8 11 – 44
SILVERDALE (53) – Botts 8, Okpara 6, Cline 3, Mullins 3, Brett Wright 23, Holland 3, Bowman, Bambrey 5.
GRACE (44) – N. Parrott, Knecht 3, Mason Long 22, Smith 1, T. Parrott 3, Mason 2, Ivarson 4, Ibrahim 9, Goins.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 4 (Cline, Wright, Holland, Bambrey); Grace 3 (Knecht, Long, T. Parrott).
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
NOTRE DAME 11 5 8 7 -- 31
BOYD BUCHANAN 4 4 4 18 -- 30
NOTRE DAME (31) – Kenzie Campbell 13, Mag. Fillauer, Maples, Perryman 5, Mar. Fillauer 4, Skaggs 9, Mullins.
BOYD BUCHANAN (30) – McFarland, Winston 2, Jal. Sanders 6, Durham 9, Jad. Sanders 4, DeLoach 2, Reeves 7, Robertson, Bailey.
3-POINT GOALS: Notre Dame 1 (Skaggs); Boyd Buchanan 3 (Durham 3).
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
NOTRE DAME 13 6 11 9 -- 39
BOYD BUCHANAN 5 9 10 13 -- 37
NOTRE DAME (39) – Kelley 3, Tim Vaughn 12, Kenny Hammond 11, McCormick 2, Robinson 3, Houston 4, Fillauer, McGee, Wilkerson 4, Flowers.
BOYD BUCHANAN (37) – Miller, Johnson 8, Moore 4, Wamack, Ryan Lopez 13, Jones, Johnston 6, Nolan, Shockley 6.
3-POINT GOALS: Notre Dame 7 (Kelley, Vaughn, Hammond 3, Robinson, Houston); Boyd Buchanan 3 (Johnson, Lopez, Johnston).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)