ARTS & SCIENCES 50, LOOKOUT VALLEY 40Lookout Valley 4 5 10 21 -- 40Arts & Sciences 12 5 11 22 -- 50Lookout Valley (40) -- William Long 16, Farmer 9, Gay 4, Rudolph 2, Jones, Morris, Jones, Heathington 7, Parham, Dozier.Arts & Sciences (50) -- Frank Brogden 11, Craig, O'Hara, Patrick Taylor 12, Jonathan Kurtz 19, Gordon 7, Carter 1, Moore.3-point goals: Lookout Valley 5 (Long 3, Farmer, Gay); CSAS 2 (Brogden, Gordon). Records: CSAS 11-14; Lookout Valley 25-6.GRACE ACADEMY 58, VAN BUREN 48Van Buren 9 15 13 11 -- 48Grace Academy 14 12 16 16 -- 58Van Buren County (48) -- Hitchcock 9, McDonald 9, Ayers 6, Alec Simmons 6, Tyler Turner 11, Delon 2, Woods, Holland 2, Shockley 3.Grace Academy (58) -- Johnston 3, Stephen Record 11, Corey Nelson 18, Josh Smith 12, Hernandez 2, Tisdale 3, Powell 9.3-point goals: Van Buren 1 (McDonald); Grace 2 (Record, Nelson). Record: Grace Academy 17-10.
When it took off for Christmas break, the Arts & Sciences boys' basketball team had won just two of its first 10 games and was struggling to find an identity.
But facing this season's most consistent Class A team in a must-win Region 3-A semifinal Tuesday night at home, the Patriots jumped out to a quick lead and never trailed in upsetting Lookout Valley 50-40.
"People have criticized our schedule because it was pretty tough early and we didn't have any players with experience from last year so we took a lot of lumps," Patriots coach Mark Dragoo said. "Lookout Valley does a great job of controlling the tempo, but I told our guys if we could get off to a fast start and take the lead, they might not know how to react to being behind."
The Patriots (11-14) will face Grace Academy in Thursday's region championship game. The winner of that game will host a Class A sectional Monday, while the loser will travel. Grace held off Van Buren County, 58-48, in a game that was close throughout.
Lookout Valley had won 15 straight games before Tuesday but never looked comfortable against the Patriots' pressuring man-to-man defense. The Yellow Jackets managed just nine first-half points, and after CSAS broke a 2-2 tie on a steal and layup by Patrick Taylor, the Patriots led the rest of the way, building a 17-point cushion midway through the fourth quarter.
Jonathan Kurtz, one of only two Patriots seniors, scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. Eight came on offensive rebounds and putbacks.
"We knew it was really important to get out to an early lead on them for our confidence," Kurtz said. "We know everybody is doubting us because of our record, but we're playing well at the right time now and we want to go out and make people believe in us."
Grace was never able to shake loose of stubborn Van Buren until the closing two minutes, when the Golden Eagles closed on an 8-2 run. Corey Nelson led all scorers with 18 points for Grace.