Knights survive scare
It was the kind of gut check Episcopal boys basketball coach Chris Beckman could have done without in the opening round of the playoffs.
The sixth-seeded Knights, eyeing a third trip to the Top 28 Tournament in four years, were staring at an 11-point deficit three minutes into Tuesday’s Class 2A bidistrict game with No. 27 Lakeview which two minutes later ballooned to 17.
“I started to think about a (district) game in 1998 we had against St. Helena,” Beckman said.
“We were down 17-2 in the first quarter and came back and won at the buzzer. We just had to stay calm. I thought we’re good enough to weather the storm and we did.”
Episcopal regained its footing with solid finishes to both the first and second quarters and took control late in the third for a runaway 76-50 victory over Lakeview.
The Knights (28-6) will host No. 11 Winnfield, a 64-51 over No. 22 Lakeside, in Friday’s regional round.
“Based on what we saw on film and on the scouting reports that was about as well as they could have played,” Beckman said.
“You have to give Lakeview a lot of credit. They came a long way and jumped on us. I thought we were a little nervous and had a couple of guys that had never been in a playoff game and it showed.”
Lakeview (11-16) made five of its first seven shots, including all three of its 3-point attempts, and went on to make 8-of-11 field goals for a 21-4 lead over a hushed Episcopal gym. The Gators converted five 3-pointers in that stretch and also forced the Knights into five of their nine turnovers during that ominous five-minute span with guard Travion Kirkendoll scoring eight of his team-high 17 points.
“I thought we had a lot of intensity defensively,” Lakeview coach Devoderick Ridley said. “We were getting points off turning the ball over and getting defensive stops. In the first quarter, we were hitting everything.”
Two-time all-stater Brian Bridgewater came to life at the crucial juncture for his team with three straight slam dunks over the Knights to within 22-13.
Bridgewater continued with a lot of the heavy lifting with 15 of his team’s first 18 points en route to a game-high 27 points and 13 rebounds, but it was
the play of guard Stan Mays, who had 13, that helped Episcopal gain its first lead of the game.
Over the last four minutes, Mays scored the last seven points for his team, including a 3-pointer from the corner with six seconds left for a 29-26 halftime edge. EHS, which shot 57 percent in the second half and limited Lakeview to 22 percent, outscored the Gators 22-13 in the third and carried a 51-39 lead into the fourth quarter where Vincent Dellocono scored six of his 12 points and Will Jones added a free throw to finish with 10.
“I thought we settled down and guarded a little bit
better and were a little more patient offensively,” Beckman said.
“That’s how we have to play.”