Bishop Hartley 61, St. Francis DeSales 56 - Prospect Scouting Report
HAWKS WIN CCL TITLE IN OVERTIME
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - With their junior scoring leader Jaden Calloway sitting down in the first half, the younger Calloway helped usher the Hawks through the first 16 minutes. He scored 12 of his 16 before heading into the locker, but big man Pharez Nicholas scored 25 total points and went perfect from the line to help lead Bishop Hartley to a 61-56 victory.
It looked as if this would be a typical CCL slug fest early, with each team starting slow on the offensive side, but once the action intensified, things sped up dramatically. An early technical foul on Pharez Nicholas after a basket and getting fouled parlayed itself into an 8-7 early DeSales lead.
Hartley would buckle down defensively the rest of the quarter and senior big man Ethan Godfrey made a huge impact on that end of the floor, blocking two shots and even knocking in a triple on the offensive side as well to boost the Hawks. It was a halfcourt bucket from Stallion junior PJ Noles that cut the Hartley lead to 17-13 heading into the second quarter.
The sophomore Jahki Calloway would take the game into his hands with an array of moves to get him paths to the basket for easy scores. Him along with Nicholas put their stamp on the game before halftime.
But the Stallions showed fight and grit through it all, as sophomore wing Devyn Amankwaah scored five of his nine total points and PJ Noles began to heat up with seven points. DeSales held possession of the lead as time expired but a put back layup from Calloway ended the half and put his Hawks ahead 29-28.
Jaden Calloway entered the game in the third quarter and was immediately found along the baseline by his brother for the opening bucket of the second half. DeSales junior forward CJ Carter played hard for the Stallions in that quarter and was everywhere on the court, but midway through the third still trailed by four.
That four-point lead would not shrink before the final buzzer of the quarter, in fact it swelled before the Stallions cut it back down. Noles was included on another buzzer beater to end a quarter, this time as he assisted junior guard Carter Ward for a layup to cut Hartley’s lead back to four entering the final quarter.
Noles scored six of DeSales' 10 total points in the fourth quarter, including a triple to tie the ball game at 47, along with the defense of the home team made numerous stands to give themselves chances to win down the stretch. With three turnovers on consecutive late possessions, the Stallions could not get over the hump and take the lead.
Hartley had the final possession after all the smoke cleared and Jaden Calloway drew two defenders and kicked it to senior Jonathan Michael who had a wide open corner triple hit off the far side of the rim, sending the game into overtime tied at 51.
With the fouls count not resetting in overtime, Carter Ward fouled out, which Nicholas took advantage of with a pair at the line for a 55-54 lead with just over two minutes remaining. A layup from Noles bounced off the rim multiple times before falling out to keep the Stallions down a point. The Hawks tried to bleed off some clock, but were eventually fouled and went ahead by three with just over one minute left in overtime.
A putback from Amankwaah extended the game for the Stallions with a basket off a rebound, but Nicholas would not miss from the line and the ball rolling out of bounds in front of the DeSales student section was the straw that broke the Stallions back, giving Hartley a 61-56 win.
The win gives this second year coaching staff their biggest win to date, and head coach Andreas James earns his first CCL championship as the leader of the team.
Check out an analysis of the best players from the CCL clash below.