Saints’ inside muscle too much for Owls

(6) BRIARCREST 58, (8) MUS 54

Memphis University School guard Jonathan Wilfong had no trouble pinpointing what the difference was between his Owls and visiting Briarcrest Christian Tuesday night.

“Austin Nichols,” he said. “He caught it in his spots the whole game. How many points did he finish with?”

Nichols, the Saints standout junior, finished with 22 and added 15 rebounds to lead Briarcrest to a 58-54 victory that gave them the regular-season title in Division 2-AA West and a first-round postseason bye.

Christian Brothers, which beat St. Benedict 56-48 on Tuesday, finished second and will also get a first-round bye while the Owls placed third and will host a first-round game.

All three teams entered the final game of the regular season with 3-2 league marks.

“It feels great,” said Nichols. “Especially with us being away from home and coming into a hostile environment. It was a must-win game.”

And the 6-8 Nichols was a huge reason why the Saints (22-5, 4-2, ranked No. 6 in the Dandy Dozen) emerged victorious. Establishing a formidable presence in the lane from the opening tip, he made all but one of his 11 fieldgoal attempts, helping Briarcrest shoot nearly 60 percent from the floor as a team.

“I wanted to be aggressive going to the goal,” said Nichols, who is rated among the nation’s top prospects in the class of 2013. “Last time, they forced me outside and the shots weren’t falling.”

But perhaps his most impressive contribution came through passing out of double - teams. On three occasions, Nichols alertly spotted a teammate while passing out of the post and each time that teammate buried a 3-pointer.

It happened on two consecutive plays in the first half as Chris Hodges and Bennette Hill knocked down buckets that put Briarcrest up 28-12 at one point.

“He’s 195 pounds, so he takes a lot of punishment in (the paint),” said Saints coach John Harrington.

The Owls (16-11, 3-3) kept their composure though — and started knocking down shots.

They finished 8- of-20 from 3-point range and were tied at 50 with two minutes remaining. That’s when Briarcrest’s Demarc Richardson, who finished with 17 points, came up with a turnover at midcourt and swooped in for a lay-up that put his team ahead for good.

“It’s disappointing,” said Owls coach Jerry Peters. “But I told them after the game, everybody is 0-0 now. You can still have a great season if you want to.”

Nourse Fox and Fernando Van Hook each had 15 points to lead the Owls, who shot just 32.7 percent from the floor.