Late CFS surge falls short against Constitution

if you fall asleep for even a minute that could be the ball game. It really put us in a tough spot.”

Constitution is an annual state title contender coming out of District 12, so the challenge was present right away for the Griffins. CFS went up 7-2 early in the game, but the Generals came roaring back, sparked by a Maurice Waters dunk, scoring 13 of 15 to close the first frame.

The Generals extended their lead up to 20-12 in the second quarter but Church Farm made a couple of shots to get the deficit back to single digits. A three by Abdul Ogunsanya with 2:08 left in the first half, followed on the next possession by a John Bol Ajak basket inside, sliced Constiution’s lead down to 25-21.

A Generals timeout with 6.6 left set up a play that ended with Waters beating the horn for a layup, sending the Philly school into the break with a six-point edge. Still, Church Farm was right there in the game.

“We had a good week of practice and our preparation was really good,” Ajak, a towering 6-foot-9 sophomore, said. “We knew what we would face when we came in. Coach just reminded us to stick to the game plan, come back hard and push it.”

Church Farm point guard James Lawton started the second half just that way, making a sharp cut for an easy score off Fausta Kulbickus’ pass and again getting his team within four points. Lawton had an uneven first half, but really stepped his game up after the break and scored all 10 of his points over the final two quarters.

Constitution didn’t panic and just went to what it does best, using its athletic ability to fluster foes on defense. After Waters split a pair of free throws, Keshaun Hammons swiped an inbound pass and set up Raquon West.

The Generals got another turnover that led to a Hammons steal and the guard would swipe another inbounds pass, finding Jamaal Brown for a 3-pointer to cap the 8-0 spurt. Constitution’s lead had grown to 35-23 with 5:52 left in the third.

“I thought we had our chances,” Turner said. “You have to make shots and make plays down the stretch. This is the state tournament, they’re good. They’ve been ranked one or two (in the state) most of the season. We gave it our best shot and I’m proud of our guys.”

Brown had a great quarter for Constitution, scoring nine in the frame and his last hoop gave the Generals a 41-30 lead with 2:47 left. Then, Church Farm made its run.

The Griffins ripped off nine straight points, Lawton scoring four, to chip the Generals’ big lead all the way down to 41-36 with 25 seconds left. West scored on a beautiful reverse layup with 9.5 left to quell it and despite Constitution’s bench getting hit with a technical foul, Church Farm only got one point out of it and headed into the fourth down 43-37.

“I hate to sound like a broken record, but they just decided to listen to our gameplan,” Turner said. “We just started executing a little better.”

Church Farm was in the game the rest of the way, but a couple things just didn’t go their way. Augutus Veniukevicius was fouled hard on a drive, injuring his elbow and his replacement shooter missed both. There was the turnover after Constitution missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:17 left. Lawton missed on a drive with about 30 seconds left with the deficit at four and a couple of other plays like that.

“Coach always tells us you have to lose to win, so we should take this as a lesson and we hope we can be back next year,” Ajak said. “The loss last year to Parkway (in states) really hurt and I said I would be back this year to do all I can. I see it as I failed again, so that will be motivation to me to keep coming back here, put in work and get a state championship for Church Farm. That’s my biggest goal.”