In his long and successful career, Arts & Sciences boys’ basketball coach Mark Dragoo has had good teams, really good teams.
What he hopes he has this season is a team that’s hot at the right time.
The Patriots beat Boyd-Buchanan 57-47 in the District 5-A championship game Saturday night for their 10th straight win, giving them plenty of momentum going into next week’s Region 3-A tournament, which also will be played at CSAS.
“We just want to be lucky and hot right now – just survive and advance and that’s it,” Dragoo said. “This team is coming together at the right time and they’re having fun. Let’s hope they continue to do that.”
It was the Patriots’ second district tournament title in a row and also the third consecutive year they met Boyd-Buchanan in the championship game. CSAS had beaten the Bucs twice by a combined 13 points this season but maintained a comfortable lead for much of the title game.
Todd Lansden led the Patriots (19-4) with 16 points, scoring four in each quarter, and 16 rebounds and Miguel Hamilton also had 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Earlier in the evening the Boyd-Buchanan girls held off Grace Academy 62-52 in overtime to claim the district crown. Copper Basin’s boys beat Grace Academy 60-46 and Silverdale Baptist’s girls upset Arts & Sciences in the third-place games.
In the girls’ title game, Claire McMasters forced overtime with a 3-pointer just before the fourth-quarter buzzer, but the Lady Bucs defense held Grace to one field goal in the extra period. Boyd-Buchanan also connected on 11 of 12 free throws in overtime.
“Our coach constantly preaches defense and making our free throws,” said Lady Bucs senior Maddie Wright, who finished with 15 points, making nine of 10 free throws, and was named the tournament most valuable player. “To win it as a senior means everything, because we’ve worked since preseason to get here and came together as a team when it counted and we got it done.”
McMasters led all scorers with 21 points and hit her team’s only overtime field goal, while Meredith Balthrop led Boyd-Buchanan with 17 points and Kelsey High scored nine of her 13 in the extra frame by making nine of 10 free throws.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com