TJ knocks off Evergreen 66-57 in the second round and advances in the 4A State Playoffs.
Shane Oliver leads the Spartan offense down the court. photo by Kevin Fleming
The anticipation of the 2009 playoffs subsided Saturday afternoon when the TJ boys’ hoop squad suited up to face the Evergreen Cougars at TJ for the second round of the 4A State Playoffs.
The Cougars were seeded fifth in the Ron Shavlik Region, and had an impressive résumé entering the showdown with the Spartans. Not only had Evergreen posted a 17-6 regular season record and smashed their first round opponent by 30 points, they had also won nine straight games dating back to late January. The fourth seeded Spartans, of course, weren’t exactly worried about Evergreen’s previous work. “We are zero and zero right now, and so is everyone else,” commented Head Coach Grant Laman prior to the match-up (icastsports.net).
The Spartans outscored the Cougars 30-29 in a tightly officiated first half, and contained Evergreen’s array of lethal 3-point shooters on the defensive end. But it was the second half that made the difference for TJ. Junior Ray Riley energized the crowd with his signature jams and TJ pulled away late with clutch free-throw shooting from Junior Deontae Fair who made 5 of 6 from the charity stripe for 83.3%. When the game was on the line in the fourth quarter Laman chose to alternate Junior Kyle Caruthers and Fair into the game; Caruthers for his defensive ability and Fair for his free-throw shooting. Fair realizes his responsibility late in close games, and takes pride in Laman’s decision to insert him at crunch time. “It makes me want to go down there and hit the free throws for him [Laman] and come through for the team. That’s a big responsibility I have, and I have been doing good so far this season,” said Fair.
The game ended with a final score of 66-57. Riley was the high scorer with 21 points and Junior Billy Sprague pitched in with 12.
On Friday, March 6th, the Spartans will travel to Metro State to take on the first-seeded Windsor Wizards who, like Evergreen, is riding a lengthy winning streak. The Wizards defeated Rock Canyon Saturday night 73-53 to extend the streak to 12 games and improved their record to an impressive 21-3. In addition, the Spartans are convinced the Wizards remember last year’s meeting between the two squads in the second round of the 2008 playoffs when TJ defeated Windsor 52-50. “We know Windsor is going to try and beat us again, because we beat them last year,” stated Junior Shane Oliver. The game will start at 5 pm.
Click here to watch the game in it’s entirety.
Evergreen 19 10 8 20 — 57
Thomas Jeffferson 16 14 15 21 — 66
Evergreen — Haebe 0 0-0 0, Lemasters 2 1-1 11, Dieter 7 2-3 16, Tucker 5 5-7 15, Schultz 2 3-3 7, Herbert 1 1-2 4, Hudak 0 0-0 0, Hodson 0 4-6 4, Trimarco 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-22 57.
Thomas Jefferson — Oliver 2 3-4 8, Jackson 1 2-3 5, Riley 9 2-4 21, Sprague 4 4-6 12, Carter 3 2-2 8, Caruthers 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0-0 0, Penn 3 0-0 7, Compton 0 0-0 0, Fair 0 5-6 5. Totals 22 18-25 66.
3-point goals — Lemasters 2, Herbert; Oliver, Jackson, Riley, Penn. Total fouls — Evergreen 22, Thomas Jefferson 18. Fouled out — Dieter, Tucker. Technicals — None.
