Crusaders Clutch at Free-Throw Line

Reviews with Rob | Shadow Creek vs Strake Jesuit

As the first half of the district was coming to a close, I was at Shadow Creek to see the 17-8 (5-1 in district) Shadow Creek Sharks take on the 18-6 (4-2 in district) Strake Jesuit Crusaders. You could tell from the beginning that this would be a very physical and grind-it-out type of game. I was most interested in seeing who would take the challenge of guarding TCU commit W Jace Posey. At first, he looked to be having his way, but ℅ 2025 G Michael Collins stepped up in a big way. He would use his lateral quickness to negate Posey’s ball handling; and even though he didn’t stop him, he slowed him down enough. ℅ 2024 W Kaden Tate would also contribute big in the first half for the Sharks. He was solid and made heady plays that would keep Shadow Creek close. Unsigned senior G Trevor Lombard would take some pressure off of Posey with his timely perimeter shooting. He would finish the first half with 2 made threes and 8 points. Unsigned senior P Aiden McKee would handle the interior for Strake Jesuit scoring 6 points. That would propel Strake Jesuit to a slight 34-30 halftime lead.

Shadow Creek would come out of the locker room and put up a big fight. In the first five minutes of the third quarter, they would have a big 13-0 run ignited by the energetic play of Michael Collins and ℅ 2025 G BJ Gill. Gill would give Coach President some big-time minutes in the absence of another talented guard, ℅ 2025 Chase Garcia (who was out with injury). This was at the point that you could see Jace Posey adjusting. Instead of trying to dribble past Collins, he started to use his height and weight advantage in the post. By doing this he started to get a lot of “and 1s” and garner more defensive attention. By the end of the fourth quarter, both teams were neck and neck. It would take overtime to decide this matchup.

In overtime, Shadow Creek was getting every opportunity to put the game away; it just seemed as if the basket had a lid on it. Point-blank misses turned into golden opportunities that the Crusaders converted. After a couple of traded baskets, Strake Jesuit closed the game on the free throw line for a 58-57 victory.

Shadow Creek was led by: Michael Collins with 16 points, and 4 rebounds; Kaden Tate with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 5 steals

Strake Jesuit was led by: Jace Posey with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals; Trevor Lombard with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals