By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Another comeback has put The Burlington School boys’ basketball team in the championship game of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Associa-tion’s Class 2-A state playoffs.
Second-seeded Spartans rallied past visiting Harrells Christian for a 53-48 semifinal victory Tuesday.
“It’s emotional,” senior center Kaden Hammond said. “It’s good to be back in the championship where we belong.”
It took quite a late-game effort to achieve that.
“We stayed grounded,” senior guard Cam Flippen said. “I told the guys I wasn’t ready for this season to end. . . I’m glad I’m not standing here crying talking to you.”
The Spartans, who won three consecutive state titles until last year’s loss in the quarterfinals, trailed 34-24 four minutes into the second half.
But in the next 11 minutes, they scored another 24 more points.
“We scrapped and we played tough,” Hammond said.
Jamyr Coleman’s 3-pointer gave TBS its first second-half lead with less than 4½ minutes to play. Then tied at 46-46, Hammond fumbled the ball along the right side of the lane, recovered it and scored.
“I lost it, so I was happy I was able to get it,” he said.
Free throws from Flippen, Brayden Miles, and Asante Phillip wrapped up the victory. Flippen and Hammond both had 13 points, Phillip added 10, and Coleman’s three 3s accounted for nine.
Second-seeded TBS (19-11) meets top-seeded Caldwell Academy (25-9), a 93-62 semifinal winner against Wayne Country Day School, in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Providence Day School in Charlotte.
Third-seeded Harrells Christian (30-3) was up 27-22 at halftime in front of the capacity crowd.
“We got it together,” Flippen said. “We made them take tough shots.”
For TBS coach George Marshall, he saw his team rise to the occasion again.
“You have to be the tougher team,” he said. “Now it’s going to take a full game to be a state champion.”
After byes in the first two rounds, TBS took down visiting Fayette-ville Academy 60-56 in the quarterfinals Saturday after trailing by as many as nine points in the second half. Hammond’s 22 points and nine rebounds and Drew Johnson’s 12 points led the Spartans.
“What is so impressive about this team is resiliency,” Marshall said. “No matter what happens, they’re staying connected.”
- Burlington Christian Academy’s season ended in the quarterfinals with Saturday’s 92-71 loss at Caldwell Academy in Greensboro.
The Royals finished with a 20-10 record under first-year coach Nolan Myrick.
BCA defeated visiting Berean Baptist 48-43 last Thursday night in the second round.
Girls’ tournament
TBS girls lost in the quarterfinals with Saturday’s 55-45 setback to fourth-seeded Freedom Christian in a matchup at Berean Baptist in Fayetteville. Kamryn Russell had 24 points in defeat and teammate Alaiyah Mitchell added nine points and nine rebounds.
The fifth-seeded Spartans, who ended a 13-9 season with first-year coach Jerry Haith, had a first-round bye before defeating visiting St. Thomas More 65-43 last Thursday. In that game, Kennedy Harrelson posted 22 points and Mitchell had 20 points.
