SHG saves best for last: Takeaways from final boys City Tournament games
Sacred Heart-Griffin's boys basketball coach Tim Allen wasn’t happy with the Cyclones first two wins in the 2023 City Tournament but SHG left zero doubt in a 69-33 victory over Lanphier to claim its second straight outright title on Saturday.
SHG (22-2 overall, 14-0 Central State Eight Conference, 3-0 City) raced out to an 18-1 lead and was never threatened in the final game of the four-day event at the BOS Center.
Four Cyclones finished in double figures, led by Jake Hamilton’s 17 points and KeShon Singleton’s 16.
Lanphier, SHG win to set stage for outright City Tournament title game
It was the first time in school history the team won the City Tournament outright two years in a row. Before last year’s title, the Cyclones hadn’t won the championship outright since 1973 when the school was Griffin High School. Cathedral, Griffin and Sacred Heart-Griffin's predecessor, finished atop the City Tournament in 1950, 1952 and Griffin claimed the title solo in 1964 and 1966.
“This is one small goal. We’ve got bigger things in mind,” said SHG’s Zack Hawkinson, who finished with 14 points. Will Hamilton added 13.
Defense does it
SHG dominated Lanphier defensively to start. The Cyclones forced the Lions (15-10, 8-6 CS8, 2-1 City) into 14 first-half turnovers, including nine in the first quarter, as SHG held Lanphier without a field goal for the first 6 minutes, 53 seconds.
“We know how hard it is to shoot on these rims,” Hawkinson said.
Jake Hamilton said it felt good to put together an effort worthy of Allen’s praise.
“We had that long talk after (a win over Southeast on Friday) and it was mainly about us trusting in our coaches because they felt like we were losing it a little bit,” Jake Hamilton said. “We promised after (that game) that we were going to trust in them because they trust in us.
“We came out and we hit our shots tonight but mainly I think it was just us trusting in them and following their game plan. We can always rely on creating turnovers but tonight we relied on our energy and our solid defense.”
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In the moments after the horn sounded on SHG’s running-clock win, Jake Hamilton said Allen told the team, “This game makes up for the last two.”
Lanphier had its best quarter in the third period when it scored 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting — including a pair of 3-pointers from JaiQuan Holman — but SHG proceeded to shoot 75% (9-for-12) and outscored the Lions by seven points to increase the lead to 29 points.
The Lions finished 11-for-32 and doubled SHG’s 11 turnovers with 22.
Ball movement
SHG, the defending Class 3A state champions, put on a display of unselfishness in the first half. A stretch of 90 epitomized the trust the group has after being together for four seasons.
Twice in a row in the middle of the second quarter, Singleton had the ball near midcourt and was closed defended by the Lions’ Shaunassey Hatchett Jr. Singleton used dribble penetration to collapse the defense and then kicked out to an open Zack Hawkinson who calmly drained a pair of 3s. Less than a minute later, it was Singleton who found himself in an open corner and when the ball made its way to him, his high-arching shot hit nothing but net and gave SHG a 29-9 lead.
“One of the things coach wants me to do is be a leader, be a penetrator and be a playmaker and that’s something I realized,” Singleton said. “I took advantage of the matchup, I said, ‘Zack, come set a screen’ which forces his defender to help off onto me which causes him to be wide open.”
City takeaways: Lanphier, SHG boys win but leave room for improvement
SHG had assists on 12 of its 28 field goals. It also dominated the paint 42-10 and outscored Lanphier 12-0 on fastbreak points.
Southeast starts quickly, takes third place
Southeast could not draw up a better start when it raced out to a 13-0 lead halfway through the first period of a 67-59 coast-to-coast victory over Springfield High in the third-place matchup at the BOS Center.
Seniors James Folayan and Marquez Small both made a 3-pointer, junior LeBron Kittrell scored a basket and senior forward Seth Doss had five points in the spurt. Springfield got on the board when Paul Hartman made a shot with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left in the quarter.
“We emphasized in the locker room that the third-place game is always a hard one, and whoever wins the first four minutes usually wins the game,” Springfield High coach Joby Crum said. “If I'm not mistaken, it was 13-0 at the start of the game.”
The early run proved significant as the Spartans went into the second period with a 19-6 advantage. Springfield got within 32-23 at the half when senior center Brandenn Robinson netted nine of his 13 points in the second stanza. He finished with 11 rebounds.
But the Senators’ enthusiasm came to a halt when Southeast opened the second half on an 11-0 run to build a commanding 43-23 lead. Folayan had another 3-pointer and five points during the stretch. He ended with 12 points and three assists. Artez Hanson (11 points) made Springfield’s first bucket of the second half at 4:38 of the third quarter.
“That was crucial for us to start the game in that fashion and come out after halftime and hit them again, and kind of like put them on their heels,” Southeast coach Lawrence Thomas said. “It helped out because they kept coming.”
Senators continued to play
Despite its poor start to open each half, the Senators whittled at the lead and got within seven points late in the final quarter. It was a little, too late, however.
“We came out in the second half and had some good shots,” Crum said. “I thought there were a couple fouls that didn’t get called but we’ve got to finish those. We got nothing on the offensive end the first couple minutes and all of a sudden, it’s up to 19, 21 points or whatever it was. We’ve got to stick the ball in the basket and that we did not do tonight.”
Southeast made enough free throws to seal the deal, sinking 18 of 29 in the second half and 22 of 34 (64.7%) overall. Doss concluded the night with 21 points, 10 rebounds and went 7-for-10 from the line.
“We hit some free throws but we missed 12,” Thomas said. “We’ve got to do better than that, especially when it’s closeout time. I think that (free throws) was a factor in the score at the end. A team is just not going to give up because the scoreboard is not in their favor. Our kids made enough plays and got enough stops to secure the win.”
Still more to play for
Southeast improved to 11-14 overall and 6-8 in the Central State Eight Conference. The Spartans (1-2 in City) have dealt with roster changes and brought back starting point guard Dom Hobbs and senior Chandler Clayton after the two were thought to be no longer on the team.
Hobbs appears to be rejuvenated after scoring 13 on Saturday and pouring in 21 against Sacred Heart-Griffin on Friday.
“They’re on the team for a reason,” said Thomas of Hobbs and Clayton. “Those are our kids no matter what — we believe in those kids. We still think that there are things to play for. Hopefully, things will turn and we’ll be playing our best basketball when that time is needed, and we know that time is coming soon.”
Springfield shuffles lineup for finale
Crum started seniors Matt Browning and 3-point threat Damon Sturm on the final night. Browning finished scoreless and had two rebounds, while Sturm went 1-for-6 from 3-point range and scored three points. Junior reserve Kevin Crews drilled a pair of 3s and added 11 for the Senators (8-18, 3-12, 0-3).
“I gave the other two seniors that don’t play as much a chance to start tonight,” Crum said. “There is more to life than basketball games, and sometimes you’ve got to help men develop and have a little fun at this too.
“Everybody gets caught up in wins and losses as being successful, and that is definitely part of the deal, but part of it is having good grades in the classroom and coming to practice and developing into good young man. For the last seven years — I think that part — we've been really successful with.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR. Contact Trevor Lawrence: 788-1548, trevor.lawrence@sj-r.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Defense, ball movement makes SHG happy in City Tournament title win
