Grace returns to State
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Article by: Stephen Hargis / Chattanooga Times Free Press
LEBANON, Tenn. -- With its once comfortable lead now a nervous three-point advantage, Grace Academy needed a little defensive help and a little luck Monday night.
After Friendship Christian's Hardie Sorrels missed from point-blank range, his rebound and second shot attempt was blocked by Grace's Clayton McMasters. And when Sorrels then signaled for a timeout, with his team out of them, the ensuing technical foul resulted in the Golden Eagles salting away the Class A state sectional at the free-throw line.
Grace escaped with a 55-49 victory.
"We tried to make it a lot harder on ourselves than we needed to at the end," said Grace coach Jon Mattheiss, who has led the program to the state tournament four of the last seven seasons.
Grace had an eight-point lead with less than a minute remaining, but two turnovers and five quick points by the Commanders' Lee Maasen cut that to 52-49 with 29 seconds remaining. But Friendship missed two attempts to potentially tie or get within one point.
"I think our experience helped us several times tonight," Mattheiss said. "We have eight players who have played in the state final four, and they didn't have anybody who had ever played in a state tournament. Our guys are confident in their ability to come back or to hold on late and we did both."
The Commanders led 15-4 late in the first quarter, but Grace cut into the deficit with five quick points and the game settled into a back-and-forth tempo until the midway point of the second. That's when the Golden Eagles forced three consecutive turnovers, turning each into a layup, and took their first lead with 3:52 left before halftime. That was part of a 17-2 run to end the first half, helping build a five-point lead.
Grace maintained momentum in the third quarter, building a 10-point lead.
Mr. Basketball finalist Brandon Herman scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and was the only Golden Eagles player to make a field goal in the final period.
"Me being a senior, I wanted to be aggressive and never give up anything," Herman said. "When the last quarter started, I just kept thinking, 'Eight more minutes to Murfreesboro.' And that's how I played that whole quarter."
GRACE ACADEMY 55, FRIENDSHIP 49
Grace 9 22 10 14 -- 55
Friendship 17 9 6 17 -- 49
Grace Academy (55) -- Rector 2, Terrell Church 12, Wilson 6, Nelson 8, Schley, Brandon Herman 25, Ruebusch, Carter, McMasters 2.
Friendship Christian (49) -- Maasen 7, Parker Teeter 17, Hardie Sorrels 11, Hill 9, Wilson 2, Patterson 3.
3-point goals: Grace 3 (Church 2, Herman); Friendship 5 (Hill 3, Maasen, Patterson). Records: Grace Academy 22-7; Friendship 21-9.
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