The Missouri Class 3 state championship boys basketball game between Maplewood and Lutheran North was the essence of what “March Madness” was all about.
Maplewood’s heart-stopping 56-55 victory earned the school its first state championship while denying the Crusaders their third state title of the decade. The all-St. Louis championship game provided a lifetime of memories for both groups of fans who were on their feet from start to finish.
“I still can’t believe this has all happened,” said a stunned Maplewood coach Corey Frazier, after doing a Jim Valvano-like run around the Mizzou Arena court after the final buzzer sounded. “This is like a dream.”
If you wanted a blueprint of what a championship game should be, this contest had it all. It was high school basketball at its best, complete with all of the ingredients of postseason play. One team blows out to a big lead, and the other manages to reel them back in with a furious rally. Toss in a little controversy with a charging call late in the game, which is decided by the star player scoring on a driving lay-up in the closing seconds to give his school its first state championship.
Junior guard Bryant Allen scored on a twisting, floating five-footer off the glass with 2.8 seconds left to send the community of Richmond Heights into a complete frenzy. It was a fitting ending to a game that had so many twists and turns and enormous shifts in momentum.
The action leading up to Allen’s dramatic shot was just as exciting.
You had Lutheran North playing a near-flawless first half of basketball in building a 32-16 halftime lead. In building their biggest lead of 19 points, the Crusaders shot 50 percent from the field and forced 11 turnovers with their tenacious 1-3-1 halfcourt zone defense which had the Blue Devils bamboozled and totally out of synch.
After one of Frazier’s “spirited” halftime talks, the Blue Devils stormed out of the gate by scoring the first 11 points of the second half to cut North’s lead to 32-27. The Crusaders responded with a surge of their own to extend their lead to 43-30 in the third quarter.
Instead of folding, the Devils reached back one more time and responded with another 14-1 run to tie the game at 44-44 on Travis Williams’ 3-pointer with just over five minutes left in the game. The Blue Devils got back into the game with its tradmark pressure defense that forced 11 Lutheran North turnovers in the second half. As the Crusaders lead continued to shrink, the Blue Devils’ pressure intensified.
“Defense wins championships,” Frazier said. “I’ve been saying that all along. When we were down 16 points at halftime, we didn’t even talk about basketball. We talked about going from boys to men. We talked about accepting the challenge. We had to step up and make things happen.”
The frantic final minutes provided some clutch plays from players from both teams. The Crusaders managed to hold off Maplewood the best they could with solid inside work from forward Tyler Shaw, excellent 3-point shooting from senior Tim Frierdich and deft poise and ball handling from freshman Alex Doss.
Maplewood countered with clutch baskets and steals from Williams and key buckets from Les Williams, Patrick Drake and Darius Washington. It was Washington who turned in the key defensive play when he took a charge from Frierdich with 20 seconds left to play. The hotly-disputed charge turned out to be the key call of the game as it wiped out a basket which would have given the Crusaders a 57-54 lead.
On the ensuing play, Allen completed the Blue Devils’ improbable rally with his driving basket which gave his team the only lead of the game. Allen finished the game with 25 points to follow up on his 27-point performance in Maplewood’s 52-51 victory over Hogan Prep in the semifinals.
“This weekend was all about putting Bryant Allen out there and letting everyone see what he is all about,” Frazier said. “I hope people left here with that message.”
Les Williams added 14 points for Maplewood while Williams added 10 points, three steals and a bundle of energy that fueled the Blue Devils’ dramatic comeback. Tyler Shaw had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Lutheran North while Frierdich added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Doss added eight points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals in a tremendous performance by a freshman under intense pressure.
Lutheran North advanced to the championship game with a 52-39 victory over Linn. Shaw led the Crusaders with 17 points while Doss followed with 12 points and Charles Dunbar added 11 points and six assists. The loss in the finals ended a dramatic late-season run by Lutheran North, which was 6-8 in January before winning 15 games down the stretch to nearly win the title.
4th finish for Metro girls
The Metro girls finished fourth in the Class 3 state tournament. The Panthers fell to Skyline 44-40 in the semifinals and Hermann 65-56 in the third-place game to finish with a 20-12 record. Junior Jasmine Cooper had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the semifinals against Skyline. In the third-place game, senior Dekeisha Mathis led the Panthers with 23 points. Despite the two defeats, the Panthers managed to continue its remarkable run with five consecutive Final Four appearances.
