The second-seeded New Heights Christian Academy boys basketball team had to settle for second place after a 58-45 loss to the top-seeded Greenwood Blue Jays in the championship game of the 43rd annual Mercy/Warrior Classic on Saturday at McAuley Catholic High School.
New Heights (15-6) opened with a 3-pointer from the right corner by Cannon Miller and built an 8-2 lead off another Miller trey, this time from the left corner with 5:02 left in the opening quarter.
Greenwood (16-6) closed the gap to a single point at 8-7 off a steal and score by Thomas Gilmore and earned its first lead of the game courtesy of a putback by Kalen Hetzler. That score made it a 9-8 game with 3:35 left in the first quarter.
The Blue Jays extended their lead with a Jase Foster drive to the rim to close out the opening period.
The second quarter featured numerous lead changes. New Heights regained the lead off of 7 straight points by the Stanton brothers. Freshman Nolan Stanton made it an 11-10 game off a steal-and-score to open the frame before senior Adam Stanton hit a trey that gave the Cougars back the lead at 13-11. Nolan Stanton gave New Heights a 15-11 lead off a transition layup with 6:44 left before the half.
Greenwood tied the game at 1l after a Caden Frederick putback and a pair of free throws by Ty Harrell at the 4:51 mark.
Neither team could score for the next 2 1/2 minutes until Hetzler gave the Blue Jays the lead back at 17-15 with a short jumper with 23 seconds left in the half.
The Cougars earned the lead back after a Ben Schumacher trey with 2 minutes left, but Greenwood answered with a Jase Seal bucket to take the lead back at 19-18.
A Jadon Smith steal and score put New Heights up 20-19 and an Adam Stanton turnaround jumper gave the Cougars a 22-19 lead heading into the locker room for the half.
The Blue Jays opened the second half with a 3-pointer from Gilmore that tied the game at 22 and took the lead back with a wide open trey by Harrell that made it a 25-22 game with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
Greenwood extended its lead to 8 points at 34-26 with another Gilmore score in the final minute. The Cougars closed the gap to 6 points at 34-28 but Linkin Pinegar hit a short jumper to give the Blue Jays a 36-28 lead heading into the final quarter.
Leading 38-31, Greenwood’s Pinegar hit back-to-back treys to push the lead to 13 at 44-31 with 6:21 left.
Greenwood built its biggest lead of the game at the 5:15 mark after a Harrell and-1 gave the Blue Jays a 16-point advantage at 49-33.
The Greenwood advantage remained in double digits until a Burns spin move in the lane cut the deficit to 9 points with 51 seconds left in the game.
That is as close as the Cougars could get as Greenwood held on for the 58-45 win.
“It showed that we can play with a lot of good teams in the state as long as we stick to who we are,” New Heights coach Steve Harrel said. “I felt like we got away from who we are in the second half. I don’t blame my team. I blame me. I’ve got to prepare them better.”
Schumacher and Adam Stanton led the Cougars with 10 points each.
Thomas Jefferson 72, Golden City 68
In the third-place game, the Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School Cavaliers (15-6) hung on for a 72-68 win over The Golden City Eagles (14-7).
Golden City held a 17-14 lead after the first period, but the Cavaliers put together a strong second period, outscoring the Eagles 19-10 to take a 33-27 lead into the half.
Golden City pared the lead to four at 51-47 after outscoring Thomas Jefferson 20-18 in the third quarter. The teams played even, each tallying 21 points in the final frame as the Cavaliers held on for the 72-68 win.
Jack Twiss led Thomas Jefferson with 23 points, and Kohl Thurman netted 22. Will Twiss chipped in with 16 points.
All-tournament team
The 10-player all-tournament team included Adam Stanton and Schumacher from New Heights, Will Twiss and Kohl Thurman from Thomas Jefferson, and Connor Taffner from McAuley.
