Tattnall wins 52-50 thriller over Mount de Sales, advances to region title game

In a back-and-forth contest between the Tattnall Trojans and Mount de Sales Cavaliers in the region tournament semifinal, it was not a single heroic shot that sealed the Trojans’ 52-50 victory. 

Nor was it a clutch block or a gutsy free throw, though there were oodles of shots taken from the charity stripe on this particular Thursday night.

No, instead it was an inbounds pass that did the trick for Tattnall with about 10 seconds left.

The Cavaliers had just trimmed the Trojans’ lead to a single point with a plucky 3-pointer from Alex Roseboro that sent Mount de Sales’ side of the Tattnall gym into hysterics. With the region title on the line and a chaotic scene unfolding, the Trojans needed a clean play.

But Tattnall’s Jayce Veal kept a level head. He grabbed the ball quickly to inbound and sent it hurtling about three-quarters of the way down the court, where another Trojan was waiting to haul it in.

The play allowed Tattnall to shave roughly seven additional seconds off the clock before a Mount de Sales player could rush down the floor and foul — crucial seconds that the Cavaliers could have used to set up a potential game-tying or game-winning shot on their ensuing possession.

But instead of about eight seconds, Mount de Sales had 2.9 once Tattnall took its free throws. The Cavaliers’ halfcourt heave was offline, and the Trojans advanced to the GIAA Class 4A/3A District 6 championship game with a pulse-pounding 52-50 win.

“I’d love to tell you that play was something we practiced, but it just sort of happened,” Tattnall head coach Christian Palmer said, grinning. “Jayce made a great play to grab the ball and inbound it, and then we were smart and wasted some time off the clock. It wasn’t coaching on that one, I’ll be honest with you.”

What Palmer can take some credit for is his team’s game plan in the second half. The Trojans repeatedly drove to the rim in a foul-heavy game — Mount de Sales was called for 25 fouls, Tattnall for 16 — to force the issue. While their shooting from the line was far from perfect, they knocked down enough shots to get the job done.

Whit Davidson led the charge for Tattnall. The lengthy shooter had a whopping 21 foul shots and hit 15 of them, which contributed to his game-high 23 points. Veal and Evan Boney followed with 6 points each.

“I think our guys just stayed connected. We talked about it before the game — don’t get too high, don’t get too low,” Palmer said. “We realized the way they were calling the game. They were calling a lot of fouls. … So we got the ball to Whit, and he attacked the rim and did a great job.”

Though it was for naught, Roseboro’s clutch 3-pointer with about 10 seconds left was part of an impressive 15-point effort to lead Mount de Sales. Rowley followed with 12 despite fouling out early, while Terry Odom Jr. scored 10 points.

Even before the dramatic finish, the game was a tense affair all evening. Neither team could get a lead of more than about 5 points during any stretch. Mount de Sales hit key 3-pointers at times that felt like they could shift the game’s momentum, but the Cavaliers suffered dry spells that hindered any scoring runs that might have materialized.

The most agonizing such stretch of shooting woes for Mount de Sales came in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers entered the final period up 43-38 but hit only one field goal between the start of the quarter and the final 20 seconds of the game. 

Tattnall’s offensive aggression was partly to blame, as Mount de Sales’ star shooter Jackson Rowley fouled out with nearly seven minutes left to play. Roseboro and Caleb Linder, two other key players for the Cavaliers, had four fouls for most of the final period as well. Davidson took 15 free throws in the second half alone.

The Trojans took control as a result, with Davidson throwing in a thunderous dunk for good measure with about three minutes left. It was a cathartic win for Tattnall, which will now face Piedmont Academy — where Palmer was the head coach before coming on as Tattnall’s coach this season — in the region title game Friday at 8 p.m.

The Trojans have not won the boys basketball region championship in 16 years, Palmer said.

“We gotta regroup, go to sleep tonight and get some good rest. Then we just gotta focus on what we need to accomplish,” Palmer said. “It’s about our guys. We’ve been talking about this for a while.”