Eagles soar in 2-A semifinal
ECS leans on defense to stymie Webb
NASHVILLE — Even when you’ve been through as many coaching wars as Terry Tippett has, there are still things you can learn. His Evangelical Christian School team this season is proof.
The Eagles earned their spot in the Division 2-A state championship boys basketball game, turning up the defensive intensity in the first half to defeat Knoxville Webb, 64- 46. The victory will set up an all-Memphis final Satur- day; the Eagles will face Lausanne, which defeated Franklin Road Academy earlier Friday.
“We were 10-10 at one point during the season,” said Tippett. “And since we’ve decided to attack and be more aggressive, we’ve won nine straight. It turned our whole season around. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
The Eagles were attacking from the get-go against the Spartans. Webb hung tough, though, and the score was tied 31-all with
about five minutes left in the third quarter. From there, it was all ECS: The Eagles outscored the Spartans 33-13 the rest of the way.
“We played very well defensively,” said sophomore standout Skal Labissiere. “We did a good job with our off-the-ball defense.”
The 6-10 Labissiere scored 12 points, blocked five shots and altered at least that many. He and 6-9 senior Kip Owens made life very difficult inside for the smaller Spartans.
“Kip and Skal did a great job altering shots,” said senior Brent Rooker, who led the Eagles with 17 points and eight rebounds.
And while the big guys were holding things down inside, the rest of the Eagles were wreaking havoc on the perimeter. Webb turned the ball over 16 times and ECS had 10 steals, four by Isaac James.
“We felt like we had to deny them defensively,” said James who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, including 7 of 8 shooting from the foul line, to help the Eagles pull away. “And we thought we could score on them pretty easily if we kept driving and drawing fouls.”
By the end of the third quarter, ECS had extended its lead to seven points at 38-31. Owens then closed the door on the Spartans (29-7) with 2:58 to go, passing from the high post to Labissiere, who finished with an emphatic jam to put the Eagles ahead 53-38.
Saturday, ECS will be trying to win its second state title in three seasons, but standing in the way is a Lynx team that they’ve already faced three times this season. Lausanne won the two regular-season meetings before the Eagles won 77-72 in the championship game of the West Region tournament.
The last all-Memphis final in Division 2-A had been in 2009, when Hard- ing defeated St. George’s for the championship.
“This game is going to be for bragging rights,” said James. “We’re down 1-2 against them. It’s going to be a big game.”
Added Labissiere, “We’re going to have to play aggressive and play with confidence.”
Justin Jenkins led the Spartans with 19 points. Burton Sampson, a finalist for Mr. Basketball along with Labissiere and Lausanne’s Cameron Payne, struggled all game, scoring 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.