Sherwood boys win SCA Tournament

ALBANY — The championship game of the Sherwood Christmas tournament went down to the wire, but Greg Elder stepped up with some key baskets down the stretch to lead the Eagles to a 58-52 victory over Fullington Academy.

Elder finished as the leading scorer with 21 points, while Austin McIntyre and Will Mashburn each had nine points to lead the Trojans.

“We had sophomores step up for us last night and we had seniors step up for us today,” Sherwood Christian boys coach Vince King said. “I think we just need to continue to get together and mesh together. What I really, really liked about the game today was coming from behind and continuing to stay focused on what we were doing.”

The first quarter was tightly contested as both teams were hitting their shots. With a little under four minutes left, Fullington’s Ty Tyndall attempted a 3-pointer but his shot was blocked by Seth King. A few minutes later, Elder nailed 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 12-11 lead.

With a few seconds left, Seth King created a steal and passed the ball to Josh Kendrick, who scored to give the Eagles a 14-13 lead at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, Fullington built up a 24-18 lead thanks to 3-point shooting by McIntyre and Jackson McGraw. After Sherwood timeout with 2:06 left in the half, the Eagles closed out the first half on an 8-4 run thanks to baskets from Devontae Broussard.

With 3:12 left in the third quarter and Sherwood trailing 33-31, Chaz Griffin got a steal and drove to the basket but his dunk attempt was missed. Fullington capitalized when Daniel Cape scored, was fouled and made the free throw to give the Trojans a 36-31 lead.

However, thanks to baskets by King and Sammy Smith with seconds left in the quarter, the Eagles went to the fourth with a 37-36 lead.

That set up a hotly contested fourth quarter. With 3:45 to go and the Eagles trailing by two, Seth King scored to tie the game at 47.

With 2:50 left, McIntyre nailed a 3-pointer to put Fullington in front. Elder answered with one of his four 3-pointers, tying the game at 50. Then, the Eagles stopped the Trojans on their next possession, and Broussard scored to put Sherwood up 52-50 before Fullington called time out with two minutes to go. Broussad stepped up again by creating a steal and getting the ball to Kendrick, who was fouled. Kendrick made one of two free throws to put the Eagles up 53-50 with 1:15 to play.

The Eagles stopped Fullington on their next possession when Elder got the rebound off a missed shot and was fouled. After making both free throws, Austin McKinney scored for Fullington, cutting Sherwood’s lead to 55-52. Elder was fouled again with 34.9 seconds left and sank both free throws.

Fullington was unable to score and was was whistled for an intentional foul. Sherwood’s Juwan Henderson made one of the technical foul shots, salting away the victory.

FULLINGTON ACADEMY GIRLS 36, SHERWOOD CHRISTIAN 28: A sluggish start in the first half did in the Sherwood Christian Lady Eagles as they fell to Fullington Academy in the girls championship game.

“The girls did not come out on fire in the first half,” Sherwood girls coach Lakeshia Elder said. “We had to make adjustments at halftime. In the second half, we came out more aggressive and we outscored them 21 to, I think, 6.”

Key’ yada Thomas led the Lady Eagles with seven points in the losing effort.

Sherwood got off to a slow start with turnovers and fell behind early to Fullington. The Lady Eagles didn’t score until Thomas got the Eagles’ first basket near the end of the first quarter. By the time the quarter ended, the Lady Eagles found themselves down 14-2.

Sherwood continued to struggle from the field in the second quarter as Fullington continued to score and out-rebound the Lady Eagles. Both teams were turning the ball over, but Sherwood was unable to take advantage on offense.

With 1:14 left in the half, Elder called a timeout and, instead of giving instructions, had her players run wind sprints. By halftime, the Lady Eagles trailed Fullington 21-6.

Sherwood came out in the second half and went on a 5-2 run. Sherwood increased their defensive pressure, but were not able to cut into Fullington’s lead.

Then with 1:26 to go in the third, Molly Kate McClearn created a steal and scored. However, Lauren McIntyre hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving Fullington a 30-18 lead at the end of the third quarter.

With 6:02 to go in the game, Madison Walker scored her first basket of the game on a 3-pointer, cutting the Lady Trojans lead to 30-21. The Lady Eagles cut the lead to six a couple minutes later on a 3-pointer by Cameil Railey. However, that was as close as the Lady Eagles would get.