CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. — Thirty seconds into the final period of the GHSA Class A boys’ first-round playoff game, the script couldn’t have been going any better for the Gordon Lee Trojans.
Up eight points after yet another Derek Roberts basket against the higher-ranked Wesleyan Wolves, the Trojans were rolling, the rowdy student section was going berserk and the Wolves were shaken.
But the script suddenly and unmercifully changed. Wesleyan ended the game with a 22-5 run and advanced with a 67-58 win.
“The effort was great; there is never any question of heart and guts,” Gordon Lee coach Ed Clendenen said. “I’ll take all the blame. There were a couple of times late where we maybe should have gone somewhere else with the basketball, and that ended up hurting us because we didn’t score. We got great shots; we just didn’t make them. It was that simple.”
Just as the Trojans, who had executed brilliantly to that point, began to struggle offensively, Wesleyan seniors Griffin Schamp and Wes Craver took over. Schamp scored eight of his game-high 25 points in the final period, including the first five of the run to cut the Gordon Lee lead to three.
Point guard Craver, who was able to penetrate almost at will during the game, made back-to-back layups off strong drives to cut the lead to one, and Schamp gave his team the lead for good with a drive of his own and two free throws.
Clendenen tried to stop the bleeding with two timeouts, but even though the Trojans got good looks, several close shots rimmed out and the Wolves allowed only one second shot in the fourth quarter. Wesleyan made eight consecutive free throws in the final two minutes to keep the Trojans at bay.
“As much as anything, I think it was a matter of our seniors stepping up and saying, ‘We’re not going to lose.'” Wesleyan coach Skip Matherly said. “Yes, we did execute better in the fourth period and got better looks, which usually makes us play better defensively. We started putting two guys on 32 (Roberts), because he was wearing us out. Griffin Schamp and Wes Craver, my two seniors, just wouldn’t let us lose.”
Matherly, whose regular-season region champions were relegated to fourth-seed status after losing twice in the region tournament, had high praise for the Trojans, especially senior post Roberts, who had 25 points and six rebounds.
“They ran the stuff we had seen all week long, and we still had a hard time guarding it,” Matherly said. “Roberts was every bit as good as we thought he would be. These two teams were mirror images. We just made a few plays the last few minutes that could have gone either way.”
Caver had 15 points and at least a half-dozen assists, and Shane Smith had 14 points for the Wolves (21-6). Ryan Culbreth had 14 points for the Trojans, who ended their season also 21-6.