East Poinsett County was going for its third consecutive Class 2A championship, but three Cedar Ridge underclassmen stole the spotlight.
Junior Spencer Reaves carried Cedar Ridge for most of the second half, but sophomore Nate Easley’s lone basket of the game and freshman Cade Crabtree’s two free throws in the final seconds sent the Timberwolves (33-4) past the Warriors 58-56 for the school’s first state title Saturday in front of 6,015 at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock.
Reaves, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, scored 26 second-half points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field, including 4 of 4 from three point range. He rebounded his final miss of the second half to tie the game with 27 seconds left. A driving basket by freshman Malik Monk on the ensuing possession gave EPC (25-8) its last lead eight seconds later. After a timeout, Easley got loose underneath for his basket before Crabtree stripped the ball from a Warrior and was fouled with 2.2 remaining. The 6-3 freshman calmly made both free throws and a final EPC heave from near midcourt was off.
“I promise it wasn’t drawn up for Easley to get it, but he was in the right spot at the right time and was able to knock it down,” Cedar Ridge Coach Issac Middlebrook said of the tying basket with 12 seconds left. “I think it was just another ballgame to [Cade]. I don’t know if he realized those [free throws] were for a state championship right there.
“These guys had confidence in him. I had confidence in him. He stepped up there like it was practice.”
The loss was a bitter one for the Warriors, who held a 40-28 lead after Monk’s three-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter. Junior Cole Crabtree hit a basket and Reaves hit three more, including a high-arching three-pointer at the buzzer to get the Timberwolves to within 40-37 at the end of the third.
“We had plenty of chances to win that game and put it away,” said EPC Coach Josh Hill, whose team also lost 60-54 to the Timberwolves in the 2A-North regional championship Feb. 25. “I thought we were in control. That’s on us for not putting it away earlier.”
Monk and Reaves put on a show in the fourth. Monk,who had a team-high 25 points, scored 10 consecutive points for the Warriors during a 2:40 stretch. Reaves countered with two rebound baskets off his own misses, two free throws and 3 three-pointers.
“[In the third] we cut it where we had a chance to win,” Reaves said. “It was [in the fourth] just getting the ball, getting to the hole, just scoring and coming back winning the game.”
Reaves’ 35-point effort came on 14-of-21 shooting from the field. He was just 4 of 8 (0 for 2 on three-pointers) in the first half.
“The shots Spencer made, he was just hot,” Hill said. “It came down to him being a real good player. It just boiled down to he was getting the ball and going one-on-one. He’s just a really good player.”
Monk proved entertaining in the first half, but not to the Timberwolves. A steal at half court by the talented freshman turned into a breakaway and a two-hand reverse dunk to give the Warriors a 25-17 lead with 4:34 left in the second quarter. Near the end of the quarter, he got loose on another breakaway but managed to stop in time to draw an intentional foul while converting the layup. The four-point play gave EPC its largest lead of the half, 11 points, before Reaves converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to 32-24 going into intermission.
“We wanted it pretty bad after halftime,” Middlebrook said. “We got down early, but we’ve got a lot of fight in us. We hadn’t shot it well up until the third. He [Reaves] stepped up and hit some big shots. That’s what he does.”
Cole Crabtree had 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds for Cedar Ridge.
Jammar Sturdivant, EPC’s lone senior, had 12 points.
2A boys notebook MVP
Cedar Ridge junior Spencer Reeves finished with 35 points, including 4 of 6 three-pointers, and had 7 rebounds.
AND 1S
Both Cedar Ridge and East Poinsett County suited out seven freshmen for Saturday’s championship. Two, Austin Reaves and Cade Crabtree, started for the Timberwolves, with Crabtree’s two free throws clinching the victory with 2.2 seconds remaining. Malik Monk was the lone freshman to start for the Warriors.
Cedar Ridge had only one senior, Darrin Cannon, on its roster.
Saturday’s victory was the 20th in a row for the Timberwolves.
Going into Saturday, Malik Monk’s older brother, Marcus Monk, was tied for sixth for most points in a championship game with a 34-point effort for EPC in the 2004 final against Osceola. He dropped to seventh after Cedar Ridge’s Spencer Reaves scored 35 against the Warriors.
Besides back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, EPC also won the state championship in 2004. Before Saturday’s loss, the Warriors were 3 for 3 in state title games.
Cedar Ridge led three times Saturday. Its largest lead was two points.
Sports, Pages 33 on 03/10/2013