Final Four Frequency Feels Fine For SMS

March 8, 2008

St.Monica 7th Grade Blue vs St. Pius

   Once again, the DPL Basketball playoffs revealed why March Madness in the DPL is as good as it gets.  The playoff fever was in the air as the SMS 7th Grade D2 Blue team took on a short-handed but game St. Pius team.  The winner would advance to the Final Four for the second year in a row and would have bragging rights as the only team from last year's Final Four to earn a return trip among the elite.  Both teams came into the game with league-leading 11-2 records, so you knew that it was going to be a game that would go down to the wire.

    Being the home team, SMS was blessed with a large and supportive crowd, that grew louder as the game progressed.  The boys are always a little nervous at the opening tip and so it always helps to have Andrew Crim out there to settle everyone down.  It seems like Andrew hits the first shot in so many big games, just as he did in the Championship Game in 5th grade and this year's big game against St. Elizabeth.  Andrew did it again, swishing a 12-footer to put the Bearcats up 2-0 in a game they would never trail.  The Bearcats built a decent lead early, as Jeffrey Ackels hit Jordan Tobolka inside and Jordan banged home two.  Jordan added a free throw and after one, it was 5-0 Bearcats.
    The five point lead was extended to seven by halftime.  Jeffrey took a swing pass from Tanner Davis and canned a 14-footer.  Quin Carroll then provided a highlight play, grabbing a defensive rebound, spinning, and firing a full-court dart to a streaking Jeffrey, who gathered it in at mid-court and went uncontested for two more.  Then it was time for some defense that never shows up in the box score.  Joe Farmer gobbled up the Pius point guard on the perimeter, not allowing a single shot, let alone a basket, from the ace of the Pius team.  Luis Estrada got his feet set perfectly and caused a travel for a turnover.  Drew Lee then did likewise, and took a charge as he got leveled to the floor.  Typical of Drew.  Just got run over by a truck and he got up smiling.  Those days as fullback against the front-line defense in football practice prepared Drew for just this play.  He is one tough kid.  Pius did cut the lead to 9-2, but then another play that only a coach could love.  Michael Boone set an absolutely perfect pick on the left wing, and Jeffrey came around the pick and launched an 18-footer that made string music and it was 11-4 at the half.
    For the third straight quarter, SMS extended its lead.  This time, it was the Tanner and Jordan show, with the vaunted press making its first appearance of the game.  First, Tanner picked the guard's pocket and Pius could not catch a thief.  Tanner drove in and Jordan was there for the offensive rebound and put back and it was 13-4.  Tanner then set Jordan up for a lay up, as Jordan made a nice cut and Tanner waited for the defender to commit.  It was 15-4 and it looked like it might be over early.  Tanner continued to play much bigger than he is, grabbing another offensive rebound and putting it back for two.  When Jordan made a great steal from the back side on the press, he hit Tanner flying to the basket and Tanner's lay in ran the score to 19-8.  After a Pius bucket cut it to 19-10, Pius tried their own press, but SMS put more holes in it than swiss cheese.  With perfect press-break execution, Tanner threw a cross-court bomb to the high-flying Jordan who took it to the hoop for a 21-10 lead.  From there, Andrew provided a "George Teague" Sugar Bowl play, chasing the Pius guard on a lay up opportunity, literally taking the ball out of the guard's hands as he went up for a lay up, turning and firing an outlet pass to Jordan, and Jordan whipped it to Jeffrey on the other end for two more.  Instead of 21-12 it was 23-10.  Andrew's play would loom larger as the game progressed, especially when Pius scored the last three points of the third to cut the deficit to 23-13 with 6 minutes left.
    Pius is a strong team, having defeated SMS White and earning a Final Four bid last year, so you knew they would not fold like a tent.  Instead, they came back with tenacity.  A basket and a 3-pointer, and suddenly it was 23-18.  SMS was leaking more oil than my 1986 Maxima in its last days.  Quin stopped the bleeding by hitting one of two free throws, but Pius repeated their basket and 3-pointer drill, again scoring five quick points to make it a one point game, 24-23.  The Titanic was sinking.  We were under two minutes to go and SMS needed a bucket.  As he often does, Jordan provided it, again taking a perfect lead pass from Tanner and laying it in for a 26-23 lead.  As we got under a minute, and with Pius known for their 3-point prowess, SMS needed at least one more hoop to ice the game.  Tanner got the ball inside to Ivan Maduka, but Pius collapsed on Ivan like a 3-legged chair.  Ivan did a masterful job of maintaining possession of the ball, and while Pius was swiping at it with 3 defenders, Ivan saw Jeffrey all alone on the wing.  Somehow, Ivan fought through the traffic and got the ball to Jeffrey, and Jeffrey calmly swished the 14-footer with 15 seconds left.  Pandemonium in the bleachers, as Jeffrey's shot had iced the game, 28-23.
    This was a game that truly defines this team.  They are a bunch of hard workers that make up for a lack of size with great discipline, good execution, and the largest heart of any team.  Many fans saw this team play for the first time all year, and there were plenty of compliments being thrown around about the heart of this team and how impressive their run has been the last two years despite their lack of size.
    As is the case in any playoff season, with each victory the road only gets tougher.  With the win, the Blue has earned a semi-final match against the SMS White team, they of a similar 11-2 record.  The good news is SMS is guaranteed a representative team in the finals to face St. Joseph, who has defeated both the SMS White and the SMS Carolina teams this year.  The bad news is that the match up means that one of these two teams will not get a chance to play for a championship.  Although classmate vs. classmate match ups are never fun, be sure to come out and support the St. Monica community at 2:00 on Sunday at John Paul II High School.  It should be a terrific game.