by Columbus, OHIO- St. Vincent-St. Mary and Sierra Canyon met to close out the Scholastic Play By Play Classic at Nationwide Arena Saturday night in front of 14,000 fans. With his father courtside to watch, Bronny James and the Trail Blazers would knock off the Fighting Irish in dramatic fashion.
It all started with one minute left to go in the fourth quarter, with Sierra Canyon trailing St. Vincent-St. Mary 55-56. Moments later, James deflected the inbound pass near half court, resulting in a transition layup at the other end of the court causing a celebration from LeBron James and all fans inside Nationwide Arena.
The layup would give the Trail Blazers a 57-56 lead with 42 seconds left. How would the Irish respond? Sophomore Sencire Harris ended up getting fouled at the other end of the floor. After missing the first free throw, a lane violation from senior Marcus Johnson waived the second free throw for the Irish.
From there, Sierra Canyon senior and TCU commit Terren Frank connected on two free throws, giving the Trail Blazers a 59-56 lead, eventually resulting in the final score to improve their record to 8-0 on the year.
“We know that everyone is going to give us our best game,” Sierra Canyon head coach Andre Chevalier said after the win. “I don’t know why I was crazy enough to come to everybody’s city and play a top team, but I know [my players] can handle it and it’ll prepare them for the playoffs.”
James– who poured in 15 points off the bench– was named player of the game for Sierra Canyon. BJ Boston, a Kentucky commit, had a team-high 16 points with five-star sophomore guard Amari Bailey chipping in 10 points in a battle all night long.
For the Irish, Marcus Johnson led the way with 14 points as junior forward Malaki Branham and Sencire Harris rounded out the scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Sierra Canyon got ahead early on, scoring the game’s first five points. The Fighting Irish would then take advantage of turnovers, leading them to a 19-15 lead after the first quarter.
LeBron James Jr., who came off the bench Saturday night, led the Trailblazers on a 12-2 run in the second quarter, with James scoring eight of the 12 points. The Trailblazers would hold a 27-23 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half.
From there, St. Vincent-St. Mary would make things difficult for the Trailblazers, as they would end the quarter scoring just four points in the final four minutes. The Fighting Irish ended the first and second quarters on a high note and would carry a 32-31 lead heading into halftime.
St. Vincent-St. Mary wouldn’t trail throughout the third quarter and the only time the Trail Blazers regained a lead, was when Bronny connected on the go-ahead layup in the final minute of the game. The loss drops the Irish to 4-1 on the season.
