St. Christopher's wins Prep League title

This one, they earned.

OK, so it’s not that Coach Hamill Jones’s guys from St. Christopher’s don’t earn all their victories.

It’s just that Saturday when they hosted St. Anne’s-Belfield in the Prep League tournament championship game, the ante was higher than usual, and the visitors from Charlottesville came at them from the opening tap with an eye-of-the-tiger level of intentionality and intensity and never relented.

Then, after 32 tension-packed, frenetically contested minutes, a desperation half-court shot by STAB’s Jayden Brown (22 points) ricocheted off the back of the rim, and the Saints escaped with a heart-stopping 56-53 victory.

“St. Anne’s-Belfield is a championship program,” said Jones. “We knew they were going to bring a great effort. It took everything we had and a lot of resilience and competitiveness to pull out the win.”

From the get-go, Coach Marcus Dixon’s squad served notice that it was a much different version of itself than the one the Saints had dispatched three times this season by 16, 11, and, just 11 days ago, 27 points.

Those defeats cut to the quick, Dixon’s guys learned from their mistakes, and they competed as if they had nothing to lose and much to gain.

The first quarter ended with the teams tied 13-13. St. Christopher’s (22-4) led 25-22 at the break.

“We tried to slow the game down,” said Dixon. “When they get out in transition, they have a lot of shooters. We tried to make it more of a half-court game.”

STAB (15-14) executed its game plan well. 

That said, the visitors couldn’t contain Darius Gray, the Saints’ 6-4, 285-pound center and 5-star offensive lineman who’s signed with South Carolina.

Despite the pushing, shoving, and hand checking to which he’s become accustomed, he finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds and controlled the paint on the defensive end.

“Playing STAB for a long time and multiple times a season, you know what they’re going to bring,” Gray said. “Eventually, they’ll get tired and wear down, and that’s when I’m at my best. 

“Honestly, this was a championship game, and I had to step up. With the preparation and the teammates and coaches I have, I knew I was in great shape and didn’t want to let them down.”

Gray, the league’s regular season and tournament player of the year, connected on 10-of-15 field goal attempts and 7-of-10 free throws. He also recorded one assist and two steals.

His points came from putbacks, off entry passes when he used his strength to muscle his way to the basket, and on drives after his teammates moved to the perimeter and let him use his quickness and nimble footwork to go one-on-however many defenders dared to stop him.

“He’s a different kind of player,” Dixon said. “If you put two players on him, he makes a good pass. If you put one on him, he takes advantage of it. 

“We did the best that we could limiting his passing opportunities, but he hurt us as a scorer.”

Though the Saints never trailed after the first quarter, they were never able to get the separation that allowed them to breathe easily. 

They led 39-33 after three quarters and increased their advantage to 41-33 when Gray bulled his way inside for a bucket at 7:24 of the fourth.

That’s when STAB used a 7-1 run (two buckets and two free throws by Brown and a layup by Axel Itrube) to cut the St. Christopher’s lead to 42-41.

“Fortunately, we got to the point where we had a two-to-three possession lead,” Jones said. “There was an opportunity to extend that, but STAB kept making plays. Jayden Brown is an outstanding player. It seemed like he kept making difficult shots and coming up with the loose ball. 

“Give him credit for making the plays to make it such a tight game.”

Two buckets by Gray and a putback by Brady Burnette (12 points) made it 48-41 St. Christopher’s with three minutes remaining

Thirty-eight seconds from the end following two 3-pointers by STAB’s Haden Morris (14 points), the Saints found themselves clinging to a tenuous 51-48 lead.

At 0:31, Damari Smith (14 points) hit 1-of-2 free throws to put SC up 52.48. 

At 0:17, Jack Kelly hit 2-of-2 to cut STAB’s deficit to 52-50.

At 0:15, Smith swished 2-of-2 for a 54-50 lead.

At 0:04.6, Brown struck from behind the arc enabling STAB to close to 54-53.

At 0:04.2, Smith once again swished 2-of-2 to provide the margin of victory.

“I’m used to being under pressure,” said Smith, a 5-11 freshman point guard who directed the Saints’ offense. “I put in a lot of work. I trust the work. I just focus on my shot.”

This was the first time in school history that the Saints won both the league regular season and tournament titles.

Their last tournament title came in 2000 when Tom Franz was head coach and Jones was a senior.

What emotions did Jones feel when STAB’s attempted buzzer-beater bounded awry? 

“Joy and relief,” he said. “Time seemed to freeze for a moment. I was taking it all in and seeing the celebration and our players and students and fans cheering and thinking about all of the former players who had great seasons and maybe we came up a little bit short.

“It was a happy moment in a place that’s incredibly special and magical.”