It was Champions Night at Notre Dame’s Jim Pfifer Gymnasium where the Division II, District 2-A basketball tournament winners were determined.
There were no upsets as both the top-seeded Boyd Buchanan girls and Notre Dame boys both prevailed. There were no upsets in the consolation rounds either as both three seeds also won.
Boyd Buchanan defeated Silverdale by a 47-39 final in the girls championship while the Notre Dame boys totally dismantled Boyd Buchanan boys to the tune of a 60-28 final.
In the consolation games, Notre Dame’s girls beat Collegedale Academy by a 40-23 final while the Silverdale handed Grace Academy a 70-52 defeat.
The top two teams earn a home game to start next week’s region play while the third and fourth-place teams will be on the road.
The boys play on Monday while the girls follow on Tuesday. The region finals will be at Lakeway Christian in Morristown later in the week.
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP: The Silverdale Lady Seahawks were behind by 13 points in Thursday’s semifinal game with Notre Dame, but were able to come back in the second half for an impressive win.
They did the exact same thing on Friday night against the Lady Bucs, but weren’t as fortunate the second time around.
Braylee Raby scored the first bucket as Silverdale had a 2-0 lead early, but the Lady Bucs finished the quarter on a 16-4 run for a 16-6 lead.
The difference was 24-12 at halftime.
Tori Gibson scored four points to start the second half to get Silverdale within eight at 24-16, but Boyd Buchanan responded with six straight points – four from Kamille Deloach and two from Sarah Peyton Durham – to build their biggest lead of the game at 14 points with 3:40 left in the third.
The Lady Seahawks had another run of seven straight points following Durham’s layup, but the difference was still eight points when the quarter ended.
The Lady Seahawks got to within six points twice in that final quarter, but never any closer as the Lady Bucs finished the game with nine straight free throws to preserve the win.
“I’m exhausted, but that was fun,” said Boyd Buchanan coach Tracey Walker during halftime of the boys championship.
“Our seniors have worked so hard and they deserve this, but I really believe our experience was the difference in this one. We had lost at their last just last Friday, so that may have fueled our flame, but I loved how we responded following that loss.
“I know that Silverdale has a good team and we knew they would make a run in the second half, but we were able to weather that storm,” Walker added.
Silverdale coach Victor Underwood didn’t make any excuses after his team dropped to 18-13.
“They played like a veteran team while we played out of character at times,” Underwood said before going into the Silverdale dressing room.
“We knew it would be a tough game, but we just dug ourselves too deep a hole. I was pleased at times with how we played, but we just have to put a whole game together and tonight, we did not,” he added.
Durham finished the game with 14 points and honored as the tournament MVP while Dani Reeves was next with 13.
Raby had 11 to lead Silverdale while Gibson was next with 11. Taylor Bledsoe added nine.
The Lady Bucs had an unofficial 27-17 advantage in rebounds as Reeves had six while Riley Robertson and Kamille Deloach both claimed five. Gibson had seven for the Lady Seahawks while Raby snagged six.
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP: Everything that could go right did for Notre Dame while everything that could go wrong did as well for the Buccaneers as Boyd suffered its worst loss of the season.
Ryan Lopez swished a 3 from the wing to start the game and a short bank shot by Jacob Shockley about five minutes later gave the Bucs their second lead at 9-7, but everything went Notre Dame’s way after that.
An 11-0 run gave Notre Dame an 18-9 lead after the first quarter while another 11-0 run late in the second allowed the Fighting Irish to extend their lead to 31-13 following a 3 from the key by Gabe Flowers.
The difference was 33-16 at halftime.
Notre Dame kept making shots while Boyd Buchanan kept missing as the lead continued to stretch.
Seven straight points to start the final stanza extended Notre Dame’s lead to 54-24 and the mercy rule was used for the final 2:57 after a 3 from the corner by Baylon Hammond extended the lead to 60-25.
Caleb Hardaway sank a free throw and Connor Turnbow added a jumper from the wing in the final minute to make the final difference 32 points.
Notre Dame coach Jonathan Adams is used to having close games with the Bucs, but this latest one was the exception to that rule.
“It all went right for us and all went wrong for them,” he said after watching his team members take turns cutting the net down following the championship performance.
“It’s usually super close between us, but we played well and it helped that we shot the ball extremely well. It just happened to be our night.
“We came prepared for a dogfight. We wanted to be the aggressor early and to create a little breathing room, but everything just mushroomed once we got started.
“This game certainly doesn’t define Boyd Buchanan and I’m sure they will bounce back just fine. But tonight, the ball just seemed to bounce our way,” Adams added.
Boyd Buchanan coach Josh Templeton could only smile once the game finally ended.
“It was just one of those nights as they were great and we weren’t. They guarded us super close and it seemed like there was a lid on the basket,” he said afterward.
“Notre Dame had a great game plan and this being our worst defeat of the season is just an understatement. The good news is that this is only one game and we’re still alive,” he concluded on a positive note.
McCormick and Flowers both scored 11 points to lead Notre Dame while Caden Johnson was tops for Boyd Buchanan with seven.
Notre Dame also had an unofficial 34-22 rebound edge as Ben Houston led the Irish with eight. D.J. Brown and McCormick both claimed six. Cooper Jones was tops for the Bucs with five.
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 6 6 12 15 -- 39
BOYD BUCHANAN 16 8 8 15 -- 47
SILVERDALE (39) – Ka. Owen, Canter, Bledsoe 9, Braylee Raby 11, Ki. Owen 6, Stinson, Tori Gibson 10, Johnson 3.
BOYD BUCHANAN (47) – Robertson, Winston 5, Sarah Peyton Durham 14, Sanders 4, Deloach 7, Dani Reeves 13, Burton 4, King.
3-POINT GOALS: Silverdale 5 (Bledsoe 2, Ki. Owen, Gibson, Johnson); Boyd Buchanan 4 (Reeves 2, Winston, Durham).
GIRLS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Harley Herman (Collegedale); Dayonna Perryman (Notre Dame); Tori Gibson and Braylee Raby (Silverdale); Lesley Burton, Dani Reeves and MVP Sarah Peyton Durham (Boyd Buchanan).
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
BOYD BUCHANAN 9 7 8 4 -- 28
NOTRE DAME 18 15 14 13 -- 60
BOYD BUCHANAN (28) – Miller, Johnson 7, Reid 3, Moore 4, Turnbow 2, Lopez 4, Gardenhire 5, Johnston, Jones, Hardaway 1, Shockley 2, Nolan.
NOTRE DAME (60) – Kelley 6, B. Hammond 3, K. Hammond 7, Cole McCormick 11, Daniel 2, Jordan, Houston 6, Herman 6, Fillauer, Sharpe, Roberts, Brown 8, Gabe Flowers 11.
3-POINT GOALS: Boyd Buchanan 3 (Lopez, Johnson, Gardenhire); Notre Dame 10 (Kelley 2, B. Hammond, K. Hammond, Herman, Brown 2, Flowers 3).
BOYS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Brett Wright (Silverdale); Ryan Lopez and Caden Johnson (Boyd Buchanan); Jaylon Kelley, Kenny Hammond and MVP Cole McCormick (Notre Dame).
GIRLS CONSOLATION SUMMARY
COLLEGEDALE 6 6 5 6 -- 23
NOTRE DAME 11 10 13 6 -- 40
COLLEGEDALE (23) – Fisher, Hayes 5, Herman 4, Williams-Marlow, Kaufman 5, Moody, Trott 9, Klaising, Shabo, Hocking, Moffit.
NOTRE DAME (40) – Gaines, M. Steere, S. Brown 2, Dayonna Perryman 18, Maples 9, D. Brown, Callie McCormick 11, E. Steere, Soutuyo.
3-POINT GOALS: Collegedale 2 (Hayes, Herman); Notre Dame 3 (McCormick 3).
BOYS CONSOLATION SUMMARY
GRACE ACADEMY 8 18 13 13 -- 52
SILVERDALE 18 14 21 17 -- 70
GRACE (52) – Eli Ibrahim 12, Logan Rice 16, Jacques, Passons, Campbell 2, Avery Ivarson 11, Eaglebrecht 2, Estes, Parks 3, Senff, Knecht 2, Swanson 2, McDaniel 2.
SILVERDALE (70) – Bayne, E. Richardson 9, Kennedy Opaka 11, J. Richardson, Chase Walker 11, Brett Wright 20, Houston Holland 10, Bowman 2, McGraw 2, Keith, Hardaway 5, Gibson.
3-POINT GOALS: Grace 2 (Rice 2); Silverdale 6 (Wright 4, E. Richardson, Holland).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)