Vancleave stuns Pass Christian in overtime
Trevor Davis was just three years old the last time Vancleave hosted a home playoff game.
Thursday night, the senior Vancleave guard hit a free throw with one second left in overtime to help the Bulldogs beat Pass Christian 49-47 in the semifinal round of the Region 8-4A basketball tournament and assure Vancleave of a home playoff game Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs (20-10) will face Bay High (23-5) on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. to settle the region championship. The winner hosts a first-round playoff game Tuesday.
Bay advanced by beating Moss Point 67-45 in the other boys semifinal Thursday. Tolu Smith scored 24 points to lead Bay past Moss Point. Jaylen Wilson added 14 points and Galen Smith Jr. 13 for Bay. Jonathan Covan scored 10 points to lead Moss Point (7-23).
Moss Point and Pass Christian (19-8) will meet Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the consolation game. Both teams will advance to Tuesday’s state playoff first round, but will be on the road.
In the girls tournament, Bay High held on to beat Moss Point 53-49 to advance to Friday’s girls final against Pass Christian. The Pirates escaped East Central 56-55 to set up a rematch of last year’s region championship. Bay and Pass Christian will meet at 7 p.m. for the girls final. Moss Point and East Central meet at 4 p.m. for the girls runnerup.
Bay High has won the girls region tournament six consecutive years.
The Bulldogs last won a boys district title in 2001. The Bulldogs went a dismal 15-96 from 2011 to 2015
“The players worked really hard,” Vancleave coach Robert Johnson said. “They got into the gym and worked very hard to get to where they are today.”
Davis always believed in the Bulldogs.
“Deep inside I knew we could win,” Davis said. “It was part of a process. I knew if we stuck to it and bought into Coach Johnson’s program, we could beat teams.”
Johnson considers Thursday’s win the biggest victory in his coaching career.
“It means a lot to the program and community,” he said. “It is a great way to promote our program. The players work hard and the community stands behind us.”
Added Davis: “We had something to prove tonight. We wanted people to know who Vancleave was tonight. Everyone put it all on the line tonight and we came out with the win.”
Behind Tionne Frost’s nine points in the second quarter, and Vancleave guard Gage Short sitting with three fouls, Pass Christian used a 10-5 run to take a 20-16 lead at the half. Montez Green drained a couple of three-pointers in the third quarter for a 31-28 lead heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Davis found his range. He hit a short jumper followed by a 3-pointer with 2:41 left in regulation to tie the game at 40-40. Frost’s trey tied the game at 43-43 with 15 seconds left in regulation.
With 20 seconds left in the overtime period, Jonathan Knight hit a pair of free throws to give Vancleave a 48-45 lead. Green, though, responded with a pair of free throws with five seconds left to bring the Pirates within 48-47 with three seconds left. Davis sealed the win his late free throw.
Davis scored 19 to pace Vancleave. Knight finished with nine points and Trevor Dorsey with eight points.
Green led Pass Christian with 16 points. Frost finished with 15 points and Aydarius Young added 10.
Both girls semifinals went down to the wire.
East Central (17-9) came within a timeout of potentially upsetting Pass Christian (19-10), the third-ranked team by the Sun Herald.
Behind a pair of third quarter 3-pointers from each Maliyah Bullard and Cayla Obilla, Pass Christian held an 46-35 lead with 1:52 left in the third quarter. However, East Central would storm back in the fourth quarter.
With just over six minutes left to play, Madison Pearson connected on a trey to cut the Pirates lead to five, 51-46. A minute later, Sania Wells hit a three to cut the Pass Christian lead to 54-51.
With just under 10 seconds left to play, Pass Christian held a 56-53 lead, but East Central had the ball, but no time outs.
Despite the Pirates pressure, the Hornets managed to launch an outside shot. However, the shot overshot the basket with Julia Clark grabbing the rebound for East Central and immediately converting the putback. However, with East Central out of timeouts, Pass Christian was able to run out the clock without inbounding the ball.
“Our defense did what they needed to do,” Pass Christian coach Greta Ainsworth said. “We kept the ball out of their shooters hands late. That helped us win the game.”
“We just needed one more timeout,” said East Central coach Wes Brewer. “We played hard tonight.”
Bay High kept alive its chances for seven consecutive region crowns with a 53-49 win over Moss Point paced by Jamaya Galloway, who hit 3-of-4 free throws in the last 14 seconds to seal the win.
“I knew I had to get them in,” said Galloway, who also led the Tigers with 23 points. “If I made them, I knew we could put the game away.”
Behind Galloway, Bay tried to put Moss Point away in the third quarter. Behind Galloway’s bucket and foul shot and, with 1:49 left in the third quarter, putback off an offensive rebound, the Tigers jumped out to a 38-27 lead on Moss Point with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.
Moss Point, though, would battle back behind Robyn Lee and Lamiracle Sims. A lay-up by Lee put the Tigers up by one over Bay, 45-44 with 3:22 left in the game. Two Sims free throws cut Bay’s lead to 50-49, with 16 seconds left.
But Moss Point wouldn’t get any closer as Galloway closed the game out for Bay.
“We made some free throws tonight,” said Bay coach Debbie Triplett. “Without those free throws we wouldn’t have won the game. Moss Point is athletic. And there’s not quit in their athleticism. But we hung in there tonight and got the win.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 12:19 AM with the headline "Vancleave stuns Pass Christian in overtime."