After trailing by as many as nine points in the second half, St. Francis (GA) stormed back for a 62-56 victory over St. Mary’s Catholic (CD) to advance to the Championship game of the 2015 Crescom Bank Holiday Invitational. The Knights will face Lake Highland Prep (GA) for the title on Tuesday at the Myrtle Beach (SC) Convention Center at 2:15 p.m.
The contest was close throughout much of the play as there were nine lead changes and eight ties. Taylor Randall gave St. Mary’s Catholic (38-2; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) a 42-33 advantage with 12:16 remaining in the second half. After trading baskets, Jala Jordan capped a 9-0 run by St. Francis (11-0; Alpharetta, GA) with 6:55 to play to tie the game at 44-44.
Three lead changes and a couple of tied scores later, St. Francis put the game away by scoring eight unanswered points. With the score tied at 49-49 with 5:12 to play, the 8-0 run was capped by Taja Cummings’ two free throws for a 57-49 advantage for the Knights.
All five starters for St. Francis scored in double figures, led by Nichel Tampa’s 14 points. Jordan tallied 13 points while Taja Cummings, Kasiyahn Kushkituah and Maya Dodson chipped in 1 points each. Mackenzie Trpcic paced St. Mary’s with 16 points and seven rebounds.
