Local rivals St. Joseph Catholic School and Greenville Christian Saints met for the third time this season, but this time they battled for the MAIS 4A District 2 championship title held at Delta Streets Academy in Greenwood. The game was decided in the final seconds as the Saints held on to claim the 2024 district title with a 40-38 victory over the Irish. There is still a chance that the two teams will meet again at the conclusion of next week’s North 4A regional tourney.
The GCS Saints and neighboring team St. Joe both received a bye in this week’s North 4A Regional first round tourney. Both teams will play on Wednesday at host school Kirk Academy in Grenada. GCS will tip off at 5:45pm and the Irish immediately after at 7:45pm.
“There is a chance we could face them, but it wouldn’t be until the championship game because we are on different sides on the bracket. We didn’t play very well offensively and didn’t rebound as well Saturday as we have been, but we did enough on defense to come out on top. Darius Williams came up clutch hitting two free throws to give us the lead with 7 seconds left. St Joe did a really good job disrupting us and keeping us off balance. Coach Hunter had a good game plan, and his guys executed it really well.”
During a very competitive fourth quarter, the Saints led the Irish by six points with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Irish Ar’mon Hannah sinked in a clutch three pointer to cut the lead to a one possession game. Immediately after Hannah’s shot, the Irish head coach James Hunter called a final timeout to create a plan. On the very next play, Maurice Thornton got a steal from GCS then paused to knock down another three pointer in transition. The score was now tied 38-38 with seconds left in the match. On the next possession, following a forced foul given by St. Joe, Darius Williams knocked down two free throws under pressure and then teammate Tamarion Nichols caps the night after he made a crucial inbounds steal that favored the Saints.
The biggest lead of the night was 6 points in the third quarter with GCS on top. During the entire game, each team would score hard earned buckets and claim big rebounds around the rim, equally. The first quarter ended in a 11-11 tie which set the tone for the rest of the night. Neither team gave up any easy baskets. Before going into half, Nichols gave the Saints a slight breather as he capitalized on and-1 play plus a free throw then forced a turnover to give his team the possession again. Patrick Travis then scrambled for another steal and scored right before halftime. Irish players that made a great impact during Saturday evening’s championship game were Thornton, Hannah, and big man TJ Phillips snatching down several boards and gaining all of his points in the paint. Thornton was the leading scorer with 18 points, Phillips 12 points, and Hannah 4 points. GCS Saints was led by Travis with 11 points, Williams 8 points, and Nichols 7 points.
