On Tuesday night at home Patriot won its eighth straight district title, defeating Gainesville in the Cedar Run Championship Game, 67-65.
While Coach Sherman Rivers’ and Patriot’s success has certainly become almost routine, it was still a victory to be savored.
“Winning a championship is winning a championship,” said Rivers, who also notched his 200th career win Tuesday. “We’re always going to enjoy winning a trophy.”
Winning the trophy seemed a foregone conclusion with Patriot leading 59-41 early in the fourth quarter. But Gainesville embarked on a 16-1 run, limiting the potent Patriot offense and forcing turnovers. The Pioneers, who were 9-10 from the free throw line in the first half, were 8-18 from the charity stripe in the second half, giving the Cardinals a chance to rally.
“Clearly we didn’t end the game the way we wanted to,” said Rivers. “We’ve got to execute better down the stretch, we just kind of lost focus…we have to close the game out better.”
While that is certainly the case, especially for a team that aspires to make a deep run into the postseason, there were still a lot of positives in the win for Rivers’ squad. The Pioneers showed off a diverse offensive attack with eight players registering points and four players hitting double figures.
Junior post player Jeremiah Parrish led the way with 14 points for Patriot, and star guard Elijah Gaskins added 12. While Gaskins was limited well below his scoring average, the senior did have clutch baskets and plays down the stretch when his team desperately needed to regain momentum.
“He [Gaskins] made some clutch baskets down there in the stretch,” said Rivers. “He was dealing with a little bit of a hand thing, so he had it taped up tonight, but he delivered.”
His teammates picked him up as well. Senior sharpshooter Sean Madrigal added 12 points and junior Christian Cole added 10. In the second quarter Patriot was able to build a lead with Gaskins resting thanks to Rivers’ bench. Juniors Timothy O’Dell and Pierce Gaskins added six points each, and sophomore point guard Kristopher Bethell contributed solid minutes as well.
Gainesville’s comeback was fueled in no small part by junior guard Christian Brown, who had 14 second half points to finish with 23 total. Sophomore guard Cam Jefferson added 18 points for the Cardinals (13-11), who had opportunities to tie or take the lead down the stretch but couldn’t convert. Coach Justin Powers’ team was far more aggressive attacking the rim in the second half, shooting 16 of their 17 free throws on the night after intermission.
The Cardinals’ season continues in the 6B Regional Tournament Quarterfinals Friday, as they will host Colonial Forge. Patriot begins regional play that same day, hosting Forest Park.
While Patriot (19-3) will need to be better in the fourth quarter if the Pioneers are to add another regional trophy to their trophy stash, Rivers was still content enough Tuesday night to enjoy the moment and his program’s accomplishments.
“We joke around, saying they might need to our name on it [the trophy] at this point,” he said. “I’m sure that won’t go over well with everybody else but you know, we’ve gone a good job, our kids worked and know their expectations.”
“They went out there tonight and got it done.”
–Chris Jollay