Greenwood Christian beats Spartanburg Christian 56-52 in triple overtime to win SCISA AAA boys basketball title

         Sumter – Winning a state championship in any sport is something that will always remain in, at the very least, the recesses of an athlete’s mind as long as there is a smidgen of mental acuity remaining.

     What the Greenwood Christian School boys basketball team got from the SCISA AAA state championship game against Spartanburg Christian Academy on Saturday is massive memory sensory overload.

     The Hawks rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to get the game to overtime and built a 6-point lead only to see it evaporate in the final 12 seconds on three technical fouls and six made free throws by the Warriors to force a second 4-minute extra period to be followed by a third before winning 56-52 at Sumter County Civic Center,

     “Never,” was the response of senior standout

Ty Kennedy when asked if he would ever forget the circumstances surrounding GCS’ title win in its first trip to the boys basketball finals. “I mean three overtimes just to win a state championship. I’ll never forget it.”

     For junior Isaiah Scott-Palacios, he even had an intriguing side story to go with the drama of winning the crown. The only four games he played all season were in the state tournament. Scott-Palacios tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on September 3 and wasn’t cleared to play basketball until Friday, February 20, the day before Greenwood Christian’s first tournament game.

     “It’s a brotherhood with these guys. I couldn’t have done it without them,” Scott-Palacios said. “Coming back from my ACL surgery and doing stuff to recover, I kept my head high throughout the journey. To get to play basketball was amazing. It was a great run.”

     Hawks head coach Jonathan Davis compared his team’s run to that of the one made by 1983 NCAA national champion North Carolina State coached by Jim Valvano. The Wolfpack won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament just to get in the NCAAs before winning several close games, including the title game against heavy favorite Houston.

     “There are so many parallels between the two teams,” said Davis, who had the team watch ESPN’s “Cardiac Pack,” a documentary on that team, throughout the week. “Seeing our guys battle, and we’ve had a roller coaster season with injuries, with peaks and valleys, with win streaks and loss streaks, and to come out and fight every night for four games, and to come out on top, you can’t beat this team. This is an amazing group of guys.”

     GCS, which came away with a pair of 2-point victories in its first two games, clawed its way back from a 25-14 halftime deficit to get the game to overtime tied at 39-39.

     The Warriors drew first blood in overtime on a 3-point basket by senior Lake Wagner 19 seconds into the extra period. Scott-Palacios answered with a trey to tie the game back up.

     Those were the only field goals of the first overtime. Greenwood Christian did manage to open a 48-42 advantage by hitting six of 10 free throws. The final one was by Kennedy and came with 12 seconds left, and that’s when things got crazy.

     That free throw was followed by SCA junior Eli Campbell shooting two technical foul shots when Greenwood Christian was called for  flopping for a second time. Campbell made both to make it 48-44.

     Spartanburg Christian inbounded the ball from halfcourt, but it was stolen. It appeared the Warriors were going to let the clock run out, but GCS received a technical again, this time for coming out on the floor before the game was over. Campbell once again hit a pair of free throws to make it 48-46 with two seconds left.

     Again, inbounding from halfcourt, SCA’s inbound pass was tipped and one of the Warriors tried to retrieve it. Even though the clock sounded, the officials said the ball was dead and the game was still in the progress when the player touched it. Greenwood Christian again received a technical for coming on the floor in the middle of play. Campbell once again hit both free throws to tie the game at 48-48 and bring a second overtime.

     Each team scored just two points in the second overtime. Kennedy hit a jumper from the left corner with 1:42 to go to make it 50-48. Spartanburg Christian tied the game with four seconds left, but it didn’t come in ordinary fashion.

     Wagner was fouled while trying to get to the basket but hurt his knee. He didn’t get right up so Wagner was forced to the go to the bench. Enter in senior Luke Davis, who had not played. He checked in, stepped to the line and hit nothing but net both times to force the third overtime.

     “He was sitting over there for about an hour and a half, cold hands, cold feet, he hadn’t sweated yet. Luke’s big time,” Johnson said. “He’s been cold-blooded for us. He’s had a huge role this season.

     “I looked at the bench, and the refs said I had to get someone in for Lake. I was like, ‘Well, I got to go Luke.’ It wasn’t even a thought. I knew Luke could come in and knock those free throws down.”

     Davis returned to the bench with Wagner re-entering, but it was to no avail. Almost three minutes went off the clock before anyone scored. The Hawks’ Bryson Dixon got free for a layup with 1:01 left. Kennedy and Scott-Palacios each hit a free throw, the latter coming with 14 seconds left, to make it 54-50.

     Campbell drove for a layup to cut the lead to 54-52 with eight seconds left. Greenwood Christian had to call a timeout with four seconds left because it couldn’t inbound the ball. Dixon broke long down the court on the inbounds play and was fouled with less than a second left. He hit both for the final score.

     Scott-Palacios led all scorers with 24 points, while Kennedy added 19. Dixon was also in double figures with 11 points, and senior Leland Reed had the other two.

     Campbell and Wagner led the Warriors with 18 points apiece. Sophomores Ayden Wagoner and J.D. Keel both had seven points, and Davis had the other two with his off-the-bench free throws.

     Kennedy, Scott-Palacios and Reed were named to the All-Tournament team from Greenwood Christian. Campbell and Lake Wagner made it from SCA. They were joined by Nick Lindsey of Calhoun Academy.