Top-ranked Crestwood fights off challenge from Brookland-Cayce for 51-38 win

Sumter – Crestwood High School boys basketball head coach Aric Samuel was not surprised by the deliberate style of play Brookland-Cayce brought to The Castle on Tuesday for the first-round playoff game in the AAA state playoffs.

“I expected that. All of their scores have been super low (scoring),” Samuel said.

The strategy worked for the Bearcats, as they trailed only 33-28 with 5:34 remaining in the game. However, CHS showed why it has been ranked No. 1 most of the season, going on an 11-2 run to pull away for a 51-38 victory.

The Knights, the defending state runners-up who are 25-1 on the season and ranked first in the High School Sports Report AAA boys poll, will play host to Dillon in the second round on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Wildcats advanced with a 73-40 victory over Beaufort.

Crestwood normally uses a lot of full-court pressure defense to pick up the pace of the game and attack on defense. B-C, which finished the year with a 12-13 record, refused to be baited into a fast-paced game.

“I thought we came out with good intensity with our pressure,” Samuel said. “We had a couple of opportunities and we didn't capitalize on it. That allowed them to hang around.”

CHS scored 13 of the game’s first 15 points and led 14-5 after one quarter. The Knights pushed the lead up to 13 on a 3-point basket by Xavier Johnson that made it 21-8 with 3:28 left in the second quarter. They managed just one point the remainder of the quarter as Brookland-Cayce trailed just 22-14 at halftime.

Crestwood appeared poised to take control at the start of the second half. Aaron Coleman banked in a shot in the lane and Shannon Davis hit a trey to make it 27-14 with 6:13 left in the third quarter. However, a 3 by the Bearcats’ Nate Hughes quelled the momentum and the score was just 33-24 entering the final quarter.

“We were trying to slow the game down, keep it within striking distance,” said B-C head coach Robert Wells. “They are a very fast team up and down. They've scored a lot of points this year. So we really wanted to control the pace, and I thought for the most part we did that.”

Neither team scored in the final stanza until Hughes hit a follow-up and was fouled. He then rebounded his own miss and hit a layup and suddenly it was 33-28 with 5:34 to go in the contest.

CHS responded to the challenge by taking over inside with the play of the 6-foot-4-inch Coleman, 6-8 Teon Tindal and 6-4 Riley Durant.

Durant hit a layup and Coleman cut his way to the basket where he was fouled. The senior hit both shots and it was 37-28 with 4:58 remaining.

After Brookland-Cayce’s AJ Edwards got loose for a layup, the Knights’ Johnson hit a free throw to make it 38-30. Tindal, Durant and Coleman hit consecutive layups within a 50-second span to push the lead to 44-30 with 2:49 left.

“We were right there within striking distance. We just couldn't finish it,” Wells said. “I thought toward the end their two bigs (Coleman and Tindal) kind of wore us down, putbacks and easy baskets where we couldn't defend them.

         “I thought we had them right where we want them. That was the game plan. You've got to make plays and they made more plays than us.”

         Coleman had eight points in the fourth quarter to finish with 20 points. Tindal and Durant both scored four points in the final stanza as they trio combined for 16 of the Knights’ 18 fourth-quarter points.

         “Aaron’s been with me for four years,” Samuel said. “He chose to come to Crestwood. I prayed he would have a big game tonight as a senior and lead the way, and he did that tonight.

         “Teon was in foul trouble, but he still made timely, big plays,” Samuel added. “He's really engaged in the game. He’s the guy behind all of the success we're having.”

         Davis had 12 points, Tindal finished with 10 and Johnson had seven.

         Young, the senior All-State football player, led B-C with 12 points. Hughes finished with nine points and Isaiah Oree had seven.