McEachern High School has won the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions in a 50-46 overtime thriller over Sunrise Christian Academy.
McEachern 50, Sunrise Christian Academy 46 (OT):
A packed house of 9,234 watched the finale from JQH Arena in Springfield.
Sharife Cooper’s right wing three pointer with 26 seconds left in OT was the game winner for the Indians, ranked second in the nation in high school basketball.
Cooper, who missed a three point attempt off the front of the rim at the buzzer in regulation, finished with 20 points to lead McEachern, who remains undefeated at 18-0.
Nfaly Dante scored 21 to lead Sunrise Christian, who falls to 14-3.
Cooper was named the MVP of the tournament.
Sunrise Christian, who held a 22-19 lead at halftime and a 37-32 advantage after three quarters, saw the lead slip away in the fourth quarter.
When Jarod Jones hit a three pointer with 5:57 left in regulation, McEachern had its first lead of the night, 38-37.
Cooper hit another big shot with 1:07 left in the fourth, hitting a trey that tied the game 41-41 and ultimately forced overtime.
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Memphis East 74, Shadow Mountain 53
Memphis East led from start to finish and takes home third place in the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 36-20 halftime lead and cruised in the second half, getting 24 points and 22 rebounds from James Wiseman, the number one ranked high school player in the nation by ESPN.
Wiseman hit nine of ten attempts from the floor and nailed a three pointer.
Memphis East had 40 attempts from the free throw line, making 26 shots.
Jovan Blacksher led Shadow Mountain with 13 points and Jaelen House added ten.
House also picked up his second technical foul in as many nights, marking the third technical for the Matadors in the last two games and the fourth for Coach Mike Bibby’s team in the tournament.
Belleville West 72, Rainier Beach 69
The Maroons hold on to win the consolation final and improve to 19-1 on the season.
The game was close throughout as Rainier Beach (11-3) went ahead 17-15 after one quarter and the teams were tied 41-41 at halftime.
The Maroons opened up a ten point lead late in the third quarter, but the Vikings cut the lead to three points on three separate occasions in the fourth period, including a shot by John Hart with 53 seconds left in regulation that made it a 72-69 game.
The Maroons nearly blew the game from the free throw line, missing three free throws in the final minute.
Belleville West kept getting the offensive rebound and going back to the line.
When E.J. Liddell missed a free throw with 21 seconds left, Rainier Beach had one last chance.
Hart missed a potential game-tying three pointer with nine seconds left that gave the Maroons the win.
Lawrence Brazil III finished with 25 points to lead Belleville West, followed by Liddell with 20.
Kenny Curtis led four Vikings in double figures with 21 points.
Springfield Catholic 64, Springfield Parkview 61
In the seventh place game, the Springfield Catholic Fightin’ Irish went on a 15-1 run to start the fourth quarter to come back and beat the Parkview Vikings.
The Vikings led by as many as 16 points late in the second quarter, taking a 37-23 lead into halftime.
Catholic outscored Parkview 14-11 in the third quarter and 27-13 in the final frame to improve to 17-2 on the season.
Jake Branham and Charlie O’Reilly drained some big free throws down the stretch to help seal the win.
The two seniors combined to shoot 10-10 from the line in the final 1:25 of regulation.
Parkview’s Anthony Green nailed a three pointer with 25 seconds left to pull his team within one, 60-59.
But O’Reilly was fouled with 14 seconds on the clock and was automatic with his free throws, extending the lead to 62-59.
Dontae Taylor hit a jumper in the paint with eight seconds left to make it a 62-61 game, but O’Reilly hit two more free throws with 5.6 seconds left.
The Vikings’ Jon Franklin forced up a three from the top of the key as time ran out, but it was well short.
Branham finishes with 23 points and ten rebounds, while O’Reilly scored 16.
Taylor led the Vikings with 21 points and Nakai Johnson added 13.
Parkview drops to 9-9 overall.
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Here are the scores from Saturday’s final round of the 35th Bass Pro Tournament of Champions:
7th Place Game: Final: Springfield Catholic 64, Springfield Parkview 61
Consolation Finals: Final: Belleville West (Belleville, IL) 72, Rainier Beach (Seattle, WA) 69
Great Southern Bank Dunk Contest Winner: Micah Monroe, Rainier Beach
3rd Place Game: Final: Memphis East (Memphis, TN) 74, Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, AZ) 53
Championship Game: Final (OT): McEachern High School (Powder Springs, GA) 50, Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, KS) 46
All Tournament Team And Special Awards:
Jake Branham—Springfield Catholic
MarJon Beauchamp—Rainier Beach
E.J. Liddell—Belleville West
James Wiseman—Memphis East
Jovan Blacksher—Shadow Mountain
Jaelen House—Shadow Mountain
Nakai Johnson—-Springfield Parkview
Isaac Okoro—McEachern
Grant Sherfield—Sunrise Christian
Nfaly Dante—Sunrise Christian
Tournament MVP:
Sharife Cooper—McEachern
Father John Savage Award:
Lawrence Brazil III—Belleville West
Dr. Edsel Matthews Team Sportsmanship Award:
Rainier Beach—Coach Mike Bethea
