CLARKSDALE — The St. Joseph Catholic School boys basketball team is once again the King of the North, and this time an eighth grader on the Fighting Irish helped seal the victory.
St. Joseph eighth grader Cordario Calvin made a three-point play with 20 seconds left in the game to seal the Irish’s 54-50 victory over Rossville Academy Saturday in the championship game of the MAIS North 4A Basketball Tournament at Lee Academy in Clarksdale. Calvin sank a layup while being fouled on the play and then drained the ensuing free throw to put St. Joe up by two scores.
“Calvin stepped up big in a key moment and that play basically put the game away,” St. Joseph coach James Hunter. “Calvin had been playing so well for the junior varsity team that we decided to give him minutes our varsity team.”
By winning the North 4A Tournament, St. Joseph (17-3) comes into this week’s Class 4A State Tournament with plenty of momentum. The Irish, who are seeking their third state championship in four years, open up play in the state tournament at Kirk Academy in Grenada this Wednesday against Canton Academy. The Irish’s first round game is scheduled to tipoff at 7:45 p.m.
Four St. Joseph players — CJ Moore, Christian Foster, Alex Foster and Donnie Smith — were named to the all North State team.
Moore led the Irish with 20 points in Saturday’s championship. Smith scored 13 points and Christian Foster scored seven.
The victory over Rossville Academy on Saturday was even sweeter for St. Joseph since they had lost to Rossville Christian in last year’s North State game. The Irish, however, responded after that loss and went on to win the state championship last season.
Coach Hunter said the key to Saturday’s victory was the third quarter.
“At halftime, I told the team that whoever wins the third quarter is going to win the game, and we came out and won the third quarter and put ourselves in the position we needed to be in,” Coach Hunter said.
“Right now. I like how my team is playing. We have a tough opponent against a good Canton team on Wednesday.”
