Mount de Sales boys fend off late FPD comeback, win 66-63

The Mount de Sales Cavaliers fended off a valiant fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the FPD Vikings Tuesday night, hitting crucial free throws to secure a 66-63 victory in the region opener on the road.

Star senior Jackson Rowley did what he does best as the Cavaliers’ standout player, finishing with 29 points — including three crucial free throws in the fourth quarter to stave off the Vikings’ comeback — to lead the floor and fuel a key win.

“I think we had some pretty bad turnovers and cut it close between that and them getting to the free throw line. Even with that, we did a decent job against their press. We got some key free throws ourselves. Jackson Rowley hit some big ones,” Mount de Sales head coach Deion Taylor said. “Having an early lead really helped. If we had come into the fourth quarter tied, things could have been a lot different.”

Rowley’s performance, along with Terry Odom Jr. scoring nine of his 11 points in the opening quarter, helped Mount de Sales build a decent cushion early that it held onto that lead for most of the night. The gap hovered between 7 and 10 points for the vast majority of the game, and it was 51-41 when the fourth quarter rolled around. 

Then the Cavaliers made a mistake. They looked over their shoulder — perhaps even taking their foot of the gas a bit — and FPD was there to greet them.

Despite trailing for most of the night, the Vikings stormed back down the stretch, taking advantage of rushed Mount de Sales possessions and a decently effective press to close the gap with clutch shooting from Breck Griffin and Brett Roper.

The 10-point lead slowly dwindled away as FPD scored 22 points in the final quarter, culminating with a three-point play from Griffin that cut the deficit to 64-63 with about a minute to play.

“Throughout the game we would go down and then come back, go down and come back. Then right there at the end, it felt like we might just come and take the game over,” FPD head coach Greg Nix said. “We’re up and coming and on our way. It was a great region game. I’m proud of my team for the way they fought.”

But the Cavaliers found their cool, finding a way to beat the press and force FPD to foul Rowley with just less than 10 seconds remaining. Griffin missed a three-point attempt for the Vikings on the other end to ice it.

“I think we had pretty good contributions from all the guys (down the stretch). I tried to tell them to be calm and not do too much. Once we managed to break the press, we could find decent shots,” Taylor said. “We were able to be aggressive and attack the basket for lots of the game as well.”

While the comeback made up for earlier miscues — and brought what had been a quiet FPD gym to life at about 9:30 p.m. — the Vikings’ woes at the charity stripe still came back to bite them. In what ended up a 3-point game, FPD’s 12-for-30 effort from the free throw line stung a little more once the final horn sounded.

“Mount de Sales hit their free throws better than FPD did tonight. That’s what it comes down to,” Nix said. “Region games are tough, they’re always gonna be like that. Just a couple more free throws or another layup away from winning the game. I’m real proud of our players.”

Griffin finished with 15 points, while Jones Handberry followed with 14. Roper, who hit some acrobatic layups during the final few minutes, finished with 11.

“FPD has those talented shooters. Especially since they were at home, we tried not to give them those easy shots. You have to respect the guys who can shoot,” Taylor said of the Vikings’ key scorers. “I put my lengthier guys on players like that, and it helped us defend pretty well tonight.”

The Cavaliers improved to 9-3 with the victory and are 1-0 in GIAA Class 4A/3A District 6, while FPD dropped to 10-4 overall and 0-1 in the region. Stratford lost to John Milledge in its region opener Tuesday while Tattnall defeated Piedmont.

Both teams are set to continue region play Friday night, with the Cavaliers taking on Piedmont at home in search of their 10th straight win and FPD facing Stratford on the road.