CHARLESTON, W.Va. – St. Joseph Central won its first boys basketball state championship on Saturday, completing its tournament run of upsets with a 67-65 win over 11-time champion Wheeling Central.
“It was all about proving (ourselves),” said St. Joe standout Keith Clemons. “A lot of people doubted us and most people didn’t even think we would make it to the state tournament. We were hyped and ready every game.”
The Irish (21-6) took down No. 4 Notre Dame, No.1 and defending champion Magnolia and the No. 2 Maroon Knights (24-3) in tournament play.
“We felt like the underdogs,” said St. Joe’s Deaundra Murphy. “People were doubting us against the four seed Notre Dame and the one seed Magnolia. They still doubted is in the championship game against Wheeling Central, so we had to prove them wrong.”
St. Joe led 41-32 at the half, but Wheeling Central battled back in the third to set up the late-game dramatics.
With Wheeling Central’s Chase Harler on the bench with four fouls at the 3:24 mark of the third, the Maroon Knights erased a 47-39 deficit to tie the game at 49-49 heading into the fourth. That 10-2 run for Wheeling Central was capped off by a slam dunk from Brent Price, igniting the Charleston Civic Center crowd.
“Without (Harler), it seemed like they shared the ball more and one of their shooters stepped up,” Clemons said. “But with Harler going out, we still knew the game wasn’t over, we knew someone was going to step up.”
The two teams traded baskets, and the lead, throughout the fourth quarter as Harler re-entered. But with Harler’s four fouls, Clemons continued to attack the rim.
“It was just the smart move to do,” Clemons said. “I knew he wasn’t going to try to play (as strong) on defense while I was attacking, it was just the smart move.”
Two 3s from Wheeling Central’s Owen Gainer gave the Maroon Knights a 63-61 lead with 1:05 to go, but Clemons quickly responded with a bucket on the other end to tie it up at 63-63 and 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
With 8.2 seconds left, coming out of a timeout, Clemons came up with his first of two huge steals with the game on the line, stripping Harler of the ball as time expired and sending the game to overtime.
“I missed free throws (today) and I needed to redeem myself,” Clemons said. “The steals I made redeemed it.”
In the extra session, a layup from Clemons put St. Joe up 66-65 and 2:21 remaining.
Wheeling Central, meanwhile, missed four straight free throws during a stretch in the final minute, while St. Joe made 1 of 4 foul shots, inching the Irish lead out to 67-65 and 6.2 seconds left.
Needing to go the full-length of the floor, Clemons again stripped Harler of the ball in the final seconds to clinch the championship win.
“John (Dawson) did a great job of forcing (Harler) my way,” Clemons said. “I just did what I needed to do, I stepped over, took away the drive and I got it.”
Clemons scored 20 points for the Irish, while John Dawson added 15 points,Jacob Strieter scored 11 points with 11 rebounds and John Morrison scored 10 points.
Gainer led Wheeling Central with 22 points (6 of 12 from 3), Harler scored 18 points and Price added 11.
The Irish had to gut-out all three of their state tournament victories late, ending wins over Notre Dame and Magnolia with 9-0 runs and needing overtime on Saturday for the title.
“It’s just a great feeling and you’re not really sure how it’s going to feel until it happens,” said St. Joe coach Ross Scaggs. “We ran a lot of suicides to try and get us in position to play three games in a row. My hat goes off to Wheeling Central, that’s a tremendous program. Harler’s a tremendous player and I wish him well at West Virginia.
“We were balanced,” he continued. “Over the year, it was someone different every game and that proved to be good for us (Saturday). I wouldn’t trade our guys for anybody. It had to be as a group, they had to be unselfish and they had to share, it made us all better.”
Click here for the complete MetroNews television Class AA championship broadcast.
Watch players and coaches react in postgame: