Blue Raiders hold off hosts

By Jaime Lackey
Staff Writer

After 14 lead changes Thursday night in their Best of Preps basketball tournament game, Cleveland finally managed to put away host McCallie.

Or so the Blue Raiders thought.

Cleveland held a six-point lead with 26 seconds to play before a late 3-pointer kept McCallie's hopes of playing in the semifinals alive. But Terrell Parks' performance from the free-throw line ensured it would be the Blue Raiders facing Howard tonight as Cleveland advanced with a 55-53 victory.

"We could never quite get on a roll," Blue Raiders coach Jason McCowan said. "They handled our pressure pretty well, but our guys didn't get frustrated. We hung in there. I'm glad we were able to do the little things in a close game."

Ish Sanders' 18 points helped Cleveland (11-3) keep it close, and two big plays from the junior gave his team a 27-26 halftime lead. After scoring with under a minute remaining to get the Raiders within one, he then stole the ball and dished to Marcus Jarrett for a basket with 2.7 seconds on the clock.

The Blue Tornado responded with a steal and layup from Jesse Taylor to open the second half, but the third quarter also ended with Cleveland up by one. Jarrett's basket after another steal from Sanders made it a five-point game in the fourth period, but McCallie got within two when Taylor scored with just under a minute to play.

Parks went to the line six times in the final 40 seconds and connected on every shot. Each of them proved crucial after Taylor, who also finished with 18 points, connected on two 3s, one of them at the buzzer.

"I'm proud of our guys and the way we played against their zone," McCowan said. "We had patience and got what we wanted. We faced a lot of adversity tonight playing a tough McCallie team on their home court, but we came out on top."

Blue Tornado coach Dan Wadley said Thursday was the first time in 13 years one of his teams has played a zone defense, and he added that the close game with Cleveland should help his 3-6 team improve.

"You have to give Cleveland credit," Wadley said. "They hit the big shots when they had to. We're focused on getting better as a team, and I thought we took a big step tonight."

E-mail Jaime Lackey at jlackey@timesfreepress.com

 

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