Warriors spring semifinal upset

MT. PLEASANT — A 26-point regular-season loss to Santa Fe was the motivation for Culleoka in Friday’s District 10-A Tournament semifinal, as the Warriors knocked off the top seed and advanced into Monday’s championship game with a 60-50 victory.

The win sends fourth-seed Culleoka (14-10) into Monday’s tourney title game against Mt. Pleasant, a 48-45 semifinal winner Friday over Richland.

Warriors coach Mike Lovett admitted the regular-season sweep at the hands of Santa Fe (14-9) played into Friday’s preparation and performance.

“We were ticked off they beat us twice (86-60, 77-71) this year,” Lovett said regarding the Wildcats, who tied Mt. Pleasant for the regular-season championship and won the coin flip for the No. 1 seed. “We kept up the intensity all night. We made sure we closed it out.”

In light of the two regular-season meetings, controlling tempo was an objective for Culleoka in Friday’s clash.

“When we got on offense, our goal was to slow the ball down as much as possible,” Lovett said. “They have two outstanding offensive players. We knew that we had to keep them limited. The best way to do that was to keep the score low.”

The Warriors came out strong and executed their game plan perfectly in the first quarter, limiting Santa Fe to one shot on most possessions. The Wildcats only managed two rebounds in the first quarter, only connected on 2-of-11 from the field, and found themselves down 17-7.

“Full credit to Culleoka,” Santa Fe coach Brad Slaughter said. “They had a good game plan and they executed it.”

The Wildcats made a run in the third quarter, outscoring Culleoka 9-0 to start the period and cut the margin to 37-36. Santa Fe kept the contest close and took its only lead, 45-44, early in the fourth quarter. From there, the Warriors went on a 8-1 run to go ahead 52-46, and never trailed the rest of the way.

Erik Mick finished with 16 points and Landon Andrews 13 to lead Culleoka offensively. Colton Steward had 16 for Santa Fe.

In the early contest, different Mt. Pleasant players stepped up as the host Tigers avenged a six-point loss that denied them the regular-season championship outright and held off third-seeded Richland.

Jakob Smith led the way early on, scoring eight of his game-high 18 points in the opening period to help Mt. Pleasant (20-8) to a 21-12 cushion. Once Richland battled back to take a four-point fourth-quarter lead, Smith’s 3-pointer — one of his four for the game — keyed an 8-0 spurt that put his team ahead 46-42 near the five-minute mark, and the Tigers held on from there.

“He came out really hot, he got in foul trouble, and I didn’t know how he would come out in the third quarter,” Mt. Pleasant coach Chris Carney said. “He stayed hot. He was huge for us scoring the ball.”

Keshawn Hudson also stepped up, posting a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Most of his rebounds were defensive, keeping Richland (16-11) from having second-chance opportunities. Two of Hudson’s points came after Smith’s 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, giving the Tigers back the lead, 43-42, with 5:40 left, as part of the 8-0 run.

“He was great,” said Carney. “We really tried to get him the ball in the paint so he could post up.”

Kayne Forrest also stepped up. He had eight points, and the biggest came from the free throw line with 9.0 seconds left to give Mt. Pleasant a three-point lead.

Forrest’s strong defense also caused havoc for the Raiders in their last two possessions, each of which resulted in turnovers.

“The defense that he had was really solid for us,” Carney said. “I just told him, it’s the type of stuff that won’t be in the newspaper, but it’s a big part of us winning this basketball game.”

Santa Fe and Richland will meet in Monday’s 6 p.m. consolation game, followed by Culleoka and Mt. Pleasant in the 7:30 p.m. championship game.

Mt. Pleasant boys 48, Richland 45

R 12 14 11 18 — 45

M 21 8 7 12 — 48

Richland (45) — Daniel Nicholson 16, Logan Helton 15, Trey Luna 9, Montel Babbitt 2, Brennan Augus 2, Tyrell Randolph 1

Mt. Pleasant (48) — Jakob Smith 18, Keshawn Hudson 11, Kayne Forrest 8, Collyn Foshee 4, Chris Andrews 3, Kentra Frierson 2, Daniel James 2

3-pointers — Richland 4 (Helton 3, Luna), Mt. Pleasant 5 (Smith 4, Forrest)

Culleoka boys 60, Santa Fe 50

C 17 18 8 17 — 60

S 7 18 14 11 — 50

Culleoka (60) — Erik Mick 16, Landon Andrews 13, Ethan Hardison 11, Preston Bagsby 9, Chris Hutcherson 6, Tavon Bagsby 3, Cooper Parks 2

Santa Fe (50) — Colton Steward 16, Andy Slaughter 12, Sammy Caudle 9, Will Monhollen 6, Jeremy Dotson 4, Logan Wilkins 3

3-pointers — Culleoka 3 (Hardison, Hutcherson, T. Bagsby), Santa Fe 6 (Steward, Slaughter 3, Monhollen 2)