Steal sets up Graves’ buzzer-beating winner
If Akron St. VincentSt. Mary goes on to win its seventh state championship on Saturday, Fighting Irish fans will forever talk about the clutch shot and timely steal that made it possible.
Jayvon Graves, who hadn’t scored in more than 12 minutes, made a sensational move and hit a baseline floater as time expired, giving St. Vincent-St. Mary a 62-60 win over Trotwood-Madison on Thursday before 8,556 fans in a Division II state semifinal at Value City Arena.
The Fighting Irish (24-5) avenged a 100-61 defeat to the Rams (26-3) in midJanuary at Trotwood.
“There wasn’t really a set play,” said Graves, who had team highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. “I knew if the ball got in my hands, I’d either get the ball to someone who was open or I’d score it myself.”
Graves got the ball from Scott Walter near the corner, and his cut left a Rams defender in his wake and the baseline wide open.
Trotwood-Madison began working for a final shot with 1:05 left. After a timeout, Jonathan Williams dislodged the ball from Torrey Patton near midcourt on pounced in it, forcing an alternate possession to St. Vincent-St. Mary. Everyone in the building had expected Patton to take the final shot.
“I knew that stop had to be made by me and I gave my body for my team,” Williams said.
Patton finished with a state semifinalrecord 34 points, eclipsing the 25-yearold mark of 33 held by Bill Cain of St. Charles. Cain will officiate a state tournament game this weekend. Patton, an unsigned 6-foot-4 senior, also had 11 rebounds.
“This victory ranks right up there with the best I’ve experienced here, but it will be hollow if we don’t finish it out Saturday,” St. Vincent-St. Mary coach Dru Joyce said. The Fighting Irish lost last year’s title game to New Concord John Glenn.
Rams coach Rocky Rockhold said he was stunned by the defeat. His team came in averaging a state-best 91 points per game.
“Trotwood did not play like Trotwood today,” he said. “I didn’t put any stock in the game against them in January. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, but we just didn’t finish it.”
MIAMI — DeMar DeRozan scored 40 points, marking the first time he’s had that many in consecutive games, and the Toronto Raptors pulled off their 19th double-digit comeback of the season to beat the Miami Heat 101-84 on Thursday night.
DeRozan shot 14 for 25 from the field and 12 for 13 from the line. He needed 38 shots to score 42 against Chicago on Tuesday.
Norman Powell scored 14 and Delon Wright added 13 for Toronto, which never led until midway through the third quarter. The Raptors allowed 33 points in the first quarter, then held Miami to 35 points over the next 27 minutes.
Playing with 13 stitches in his right hand, Hassan Whiteside scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for Miami. Rodney McGruder and Goran Dragic each had 13 points for the Heat, with Dragic shooting just 5 for 18.
He wasn’t the only Miami player to struggle. The Heat shot only 39 percent, 26 percent from 3-point range. The 84 points tied for Miami’s second-lowest total of the season.
No one in the NBA has been better at pulling off big comebacks than the Raptors, who have come from behind six times since the All-Star break alone.
Brook Lopez scored 19 points, K.J. McDaniels had a seasonhigh 16 and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Phoenix Suns to give them consecutive victories for the first time this season.