Baylor Hangs On To Beat McCallie, 54-52
Last Two Shots Off The Mark As Red Raiders Prevail
You always know there will be a war when teams from Baylor and McCallie meet in any sport, so it's no surprise that Baylor's Jimmy Duke Arena was a hotbed of activity Friday night.
The gym was packed to the rafters and noise levels were deafening at times. These two teams put forth their best effort and gave the overflow crowd something to talk about as it came down to a last-second shot before the winner was determined.
As it turned out, the Blue Tornado had two final shots in the waning seconds, but neither went in, as Baylor hung on for the heart-stopping 54-52 victory.
The Red Raiders improve to 11-5 overall and 1-1 in region play while McCallie falls to 7-10 overall and 0-2 in league games.
McCallie sank a dozen 3s for the game, including the last one from J.C. Shulman with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter to knot the score at 46.
Baylor responded with six straight points in the next 90 seconds for a 52-46 lead before Parker Robison sank back-to-back jumpers to get the Blue Tornado within two with 2:36 to play.
Cameron Sparks scored on a slam with just over two minutes remaining for a four-point lead before Robison sank two free throws with 1:41 to play to get McCallie within two.
The Blue Tornado got possession shortly after that and were content to run the clock down, hoping to get a good look and a possible game-winning shot, but that plan never materialized.
Robison had two shots at the end, but neither fell, as the ball went out of bounds with .4 second left.
Baylor's inbounds pass was thrown away, giving McCallie one final shot, but Sparks deflected that inbounds pass to prevent another opportunity for the Blue Tornado.
"That was fun as it's so cool to play in an electric atmosphere like we had here tonight. I'm just blessed to be a small part of it," said Baylor coach Mark Price after the game.
"Our defense at the end was really good as we defended the Robison kid well. He's a good shooter, but he had two tough shots and didn't make either one. It seemed like that final possession lasted forever, but we just had to hunker down and get a stop on their last shot.
"McCallie had a good plan from the first time we played and they did a nice job stopping Zane Restelli, but we had balanced scoring as others stepped up.
"We played an overtime game against Hamilton Heights the last time we played here and that helped us at the end tonight," he added.
McCallie coach Steve Robison had some harsh words for his teams at the half after they allowed Baylor to finish the second quarter on a 15-3 run that translated into a 32-24 lead at the break.
"I'll just tell you that I wasn't very nice in our dressing room at halftime as we had too many turnovers and just didn't take care of the ball," he began.
"But I was proud of the way we responded as we were aggressive. We made some adjustments at the half and didn't allow Zane Restelli or Nyziah Whaley to score in the second half.
"But it was a great game and it doesn't get any better than this. We really didn't want to wait for that last shot, but that's just how it worked out. It was two tough shots and didn't go, but our guys competed," he added.
Big Jack Shutters scored a dozen points to lead a trio of Baylor players in double figures. Restelli and Whaley both finished with 10 points, all in the first half.
Kolin Claridy scored 17 points to lead McCallie while Robison was next with 16. Will Kwasigroch finished with 10.
Baylor also had an unofficial 34-15 edge in rebounds as Shutters grabbed 10. Restelli and Sparks snagged eight each. Claridy was tops for McCallie with eight.
Baylor hits the road for a game at Rabun Gap on Saturday while McCallie will go north on Tuesday to face Knoxville Catholic.
McCALLIE 16 8 16 12 -- 52
BAYLOR 15 17 12 10 -- 54
McCALLIE (52) – Kolin Claridy 17, Parker Robison 16, Shulman 6, Kennebrew, Millner 3, Will Kwasigroch 10, Salter, Capazario.
BAYLOR (54) – Barton 5, Zane Restelli 10, Sparks 5, Rego 9, Fields, Haynie 3, Jack Shutters 12, Nyziah Whaley 10, Ucieszynski.
3-POINT GOALS: McCallie 12 (Claridy 5, Robison 2, Shulman 2, Kwasigroch 2, Millner); Baylor 6 (Rego 3, Barton, Restelli 2).
RECORDS: Baylor 11-5 overall and 1-1 in region play; McCallie 7-10 overall and 0-2 in region.
Baylor Hangs On To Beat McCallie, 54-52 - Chattanoogan.com
#WeAreBaylor
