Bishop Kearney Hold On to Win 3rd Straight Title
By: Thad Brown
Updated: March 4, 2013
Anderson scored eight straight points in the 4th for Kearney as the Kings take their 3rd straight sectional title 58-55 over Webster Schroeder in the Class AA1 final from Blue Cross Arena.
The Kings did have to sweat it out as Schroeder's Mitchell Herman's half-court shot at the buzzer hit the rim. Kearney entered the fourth quarter down four points. In the middle of the quarter, Anderson scored a layup then back-to-back 3-point plays to give Kearney a 49-46 lead.
Schroeder had difficulty stopping Kearney in the fourth when their leading forward, Emitt Holt, fouled out. That opened the door for Thomas Bryant and Chinonso Obokoh to make their mark in the paint for the Kings.
The final minute was a flurry of great plays and mistakes. The Kings led 56-55 with 40 seconds remaining after David Wanits scored a jumper for Schroeder. Kearney missed the front-end of a one-an-one free-throw sequence and Schroeder had a chance to take the lead with 20 seconds remaining. On their next possession, Antwoine Anderson fouled with 3 seconds left, sending Schroeder to the line. The Warriors then missed the front-end of a one-and-one. Thomas Bryant rebounded the ball and was immediately sent to the free-throw line, where he sank consecutive freebies.
With the score 58-55 with 2.9 seconds remaining, Schroeder needed to go the length of the floor to tie it. Their in-bounds throw went out of bounds, turning possession to Kearney. On Kearney's in-bounds throw, their in-bounder stepped on the baseline, giving the ball back to Schroeder. The Warriors were able to in-bound successfully to Mitchell Herman but his half-court heave at the buzzer could only find iron and not the bottom of the net.
With the win, Bishop Kearney will take on Greece Athena in the Class AA1 state tournament qualifier on Wednesday March 6 at Blue Cross Arena at 8:45.


