SPRING GARDEN – Sand Rock junior point guard Jacob StClair is a gym rat. He spends more time there than he does at home, working on his game – including his free-throw shooting.
Following Monday’s Wildcat basketball practice, head coach John Blackwell rebounded for StClair while he was shooting his free throws.
“He hit 156 in a row,” Blackwell said. “The kid puts the time in. He puts the work in.”
So the 17 in a row – including 12 in the fourth quarter – StClair hit against Westbrook Christian in the Class 2A, Area 12 boys tournament semifinals at Spring Garden on Tuesday night might not seem as significant as hitting 156 at practice, but they helped keep Sand Rock’s season alive.
StClair hit a few other big shots too. He finished with 43 points, five assists and five rebounds in leading the Wildcats to a 75-68 victory.
StClair was the catalyst the Wildcats (17-13) needed to rally from deficits of 20-4 in the first quarter and 51-41 with 3:27 remaining in the third.
“When we were down 16, I knew I had to keep us going, get some easy buckets, just to get us some momentum back,” StClair said. “I did that, and we come back.
“When we were down 16, our seniors kept saying ‘We don’t want to go home.’ I had to do it for them.”
StClair scored 20 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter, but it was a 3-pointer by junior forward Kaden Justice with 4:35 remaining that brought the Wildcats within a point at 64-63.
Momentum had almost completely swung to the Wildcats’ side.
“That was a big three,” Blackwell said. “Kaden has really been shooting the ball well, but he just got in foul trouble tonight. His 3-point shooting percentage is real close to Jacob’s, and Jacob’s is about 49 percent. He just got in foul trouble and we couldn’t play him.”
Justice rang for eight points, including a pair of treys.
Following Justice’s second 3-pointer, the Warriors committed a turnover. StClair then made a shot along the baseline with 4:12 to go to give Sand Rock its first lead of the game at 65-64.
StClair scored the Wildcats’ final 12 points, including his final 10 from the free-throw line.
“There was no doubt who we wanted to have the ball in that instance,” Blackwell said. “I told the guys when we take the lead, they’re going to have to foul us, and that’s what they did.”
“I shoot a lot of free throws,” StClair said. “When I’m out there, I just imagine me and my dad rebounding to me. I try to block everything else out.”
Westbrook Christian led 22-12 at the end of the first quarter, but Sand Rock tied things up at 37 with 9.3 seconds remaining in the first half. However, a John Gilchrist 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Warriors a 40-37 lead at the break.
Westbrook went up by 10 at 51-41 with 3:27 to go in the third on a basket by Cooper Greer, but that set the stage for another remarkable Sand Rock comeback.
“These guys play hard and don’t give up. I’m proud of them,” Blackwell said. “They’re fun to coach. They drive me crazy sometimes. They don’t seem to take things as serious as I want them too, but I guess in a game like this it’s good. They didn’t get all upset. They just kept battling, kept chipping away.
“We were down four with about six minutes to go. I heard one of them say in a timeout ‘Come on guys. Let’s give it all we’ve got for six minutes. I’m not ready to hang up my shoes.’ They’re not ready for this season to be over. If we play hard, we can do some pretty good things. We’re going to have to put another one of these together Friday night (against Spring Garden at 6 p.m.).”
Ben Dale collected eight points and 10 rebounds for Sand Rock. Jacob Cornejo finished with seven points, four steals and four rebounds.
Brodie Self led Westbrook with 21 points, including three 3-pointers. Hugh Windle had a pair of treys and finished with 16 points. Evans Sizemore came away with 10 points. Eli Edge had seven points. Gilchrist finished with five points.
Girls
Sand Rock 76, Westbrook Christain 32
SPRING GARDEN – Katelyn StClair rang for 22 points, including four 3-pointers, in leading the Sand Rock Lady Wildcats to a 76-32 victory in the Class 2A, Area 12 girls basketball tournament semifinals on Tuesday at Spring Garden.
StClair also grabbed five rebounds, had five steals and two assists for the Lady Wildcats (27-4). Lanie Henderson added 16 points, including four treys, to go along with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. Caley Garrett collected 15 points, including four 3-pointers, with eight steals, four rebounds and three assists. Haley Grace Lisenbee and McKenna Ballenger both finished with five points.
Bella Millirons led Westbrook Christian with 11 points. McKayla Bean added seven points and Keyara Jones finished with five points.
Sand Rock jumped out on a 10-0 run and led 15-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Wildcats went on a 23-3 run in the second to blow the game open at 38-7 at halftime. Sand Rock led 70-23 at the end of three quarters.
Sand Rock battles Spring Garden on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the area tournament championship game.
