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Boys Basketball: Crusaders Go One and Out in the Playoffs

Annapolis Area Christian comes away with 46-44 upset over St. Paul's in semifinals.

Although the heavily favored took control over the Annapolis Area Christian Eagles early in the semifinals of the MIAA B Conference playoffs, they weren’t able to close out the game.

Instead, the Eagles stuck around and kept the opportunity for a victory alive on Wednesday night. Thanks to 10 fourth-quarter points from senior guard Phillip Perry, the Eagles walked away with a heart-wrenching 46-44 victory.

The Eagles trailed the whole contest. They took their first lead of the game with 1:42 left when junior guard Conner Lipinski came away with steal at the Eagles’ defensive end of the court. Lipinski converted on a fast break foul and the basket sent Annapolis Area Christian up, 44-41.

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The Crusaders tied the game at 44 with 36.2 seconds left after senior guard Nigel Syndor connected on two foul shots for his 10th and 11th points of the game.

But with 1.2 seconds left, Lipinksi found Perry under the hoop for an easy layup and a 2-point lead. Although junior guard Tanner Brooks received an open look at a 3-pointer, the shot, like many others in the night, did not fall. St. Paul’s run at a second-straight B Conference title was over.

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“We didn’t play well, to be honest with you,” St. Paul’s coach Seth Goldberg said. “They played really well. We shot 16-53 from the floor. We missed a lot of easy shots. We, as a team, usually shoot 51 percent on the season. What is that? Like, 20 percent?”

In the first half, neither team was shooting well from outside the paint. However, the Crusaders drove the lane effectively and jumped off to a 21-9 lead, getting easy points from the paint and the foul line.

“It was ours to win and they came up and they snagged it from us,” Goldberg said.

Although junior forward Cliff Cornish was a force in the low-post, registering a team-high 14 points, the Eagles closed down on the lane in the second half. The St. Paul’s 3-point threats could not knock down their jumpers to ease up the defense in the paint.

Brooks, who can be considered the Crusaders' best outside threat, was a non-factor. He could not get the ball to go in and did not find the scoreboard at all in the game.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t fall and tonight was just one of those nights,” Goldberg said.

Going into halftime, down 23-17, the Eagles found greater success from distance and started taking momentum with clutch shots from the outside. Guard George Yates hit three 3-pointers on his way to nine points. Perry, too, was a threat from beyond the arc in the second half, tallying a team-high 13 points. It was clear the Eagles’ offense was catching fire and the Crusaders were letting the momentum slip away.

“Good teams, they come back. They can play from behind,” Perry said. “Sometimes, once you get your rhythm and your offense going, it seems like you can’t miss.”

Although the Eagle offense picked up in the second half, the focus remained on limiting the St. Paul’s offense from taking game over. Syndor, still putting up 11 points, had trouble creating space and could not do much to take back the momentum on the offensive end late in the game.

“I got a little discouraged in the first half. I was frustrated,” Perry said. “I decided it’s for my team. I want a championship. It told myself, no matter how many points I score, just play defense on Nigel Syndor. I knew that was the real key, not putting the ball through the hoop.”

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