By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
For the second game in a row, St. Anne’s-Belfield used some late-game heroics to secure a win against a quality opponent.
The Saints eked out a win over Atlantic Shores on Saturday and found themselves in a similar position on Tuesday against Miller.
With the game tied, Parker Morris provided the boost his team needed, calmly sinking a jumper with four seconds remaining to give STAB the thrilling 57-55 victory.
“We had to dig out a win the other day and it was kind of the same thing today,” St. Anne’s coach Brian Kent said. “This is a tough group of boys and in the end, they play to win, they don’t play to lose. We did it the other day — the same exact play but Javin hit the game-winner. Tonight Parker had the elbow jump shot. He’s a senior leader and he knocked it down for us.”
Morris finished with 16 points and three steals on the night.
The Saints led by as many as seven points in the second half, but the visitors clawed their way back into it. Connor Schroeder cut the deficit to one (42-41) with a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
“That was a bad eight minutes in that third quarter,” Kent added. “We were taking bad shots and it was just contagious for us.”
The teams went back and forth throughout the fourth, with five lead changes and four ties in the frame.
The Mavericks took their first lead of the game on a basket underneath by Tyler Creammer with 5:38 to play. However, the lead was short-lived, as Kareem Johnson came up with a quick steal, then dished the ball to Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier, who finished the play with a nifty two-handed dunk. The 6-9 junior led all scorers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
“I thought he made some great moves inside, made a big presence and rebounded the ball well in the first half,” Kent said of Montgomery-DeLaurier. “He played hard, he played to win. He’s a competitor.”
Miller’s errant throw out of bounds gave STAB the ball back with 31 seconds to play and the Saints took advantage, burning the clock in time to set up the game-winner.
The Mavericks were able to get back into it largely because of the play of Creammer, a 6-foot-11 junior who finished with 16 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. The big man also pulled down 15 rebounds. Ron Alston added 12 points, all in the first half.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit, and played some tough teams,” Miller coach Ralf Melis said. “We had an unfortunate first half — we made a lot of mistakes. They fought back and put themselves in a position to win.”
STAB (2-1) made enough free throws down the stretch (9 of 14 from the line in the fourth) to help secure the win. Johnson added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Saints play host to Collegiate on Friday, while Miller entertains Legacy Academy on Thursday.
