ST. CHARLES • Justin Tatum couldn't have dreamed up a better start.
The CBC basketball coach watched his Cadets race out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes Friday against rival Chaminade. Everything was clicking for CBC. Junior guard Jordan Barnes buried open looks. The defense was strong.
Then Reggie Crawford announced himself with authority. A sophomore shooting guard for Chaminade, Crawford buried the first of his three 3-pointers to give the Red Devils their first field goal. It snowballed from there as Chaminade scored an 80-73 win over its Metro Catholic Conference foe at Lindenwood University.
"My teammates gave me good looks," Crawford said. "I took the opportunity and knocked the shots down."
“He takes what comes his way and that's what I love about him,” Chaminade coach Frank Bennett said. “He gets out there and defends the mess out of somebody, and if you step off him he's ready to shoot that thing with confidence.”
The No. 1 large school in the STLhighschoolsports.com rankings, Chaminade (12-3 overall, 4-0 MCC) got another monster performance from junior guard Jayson Tatum. He finished with 34 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals and hit 20 of his 22 free throws.
And, more importantly, a win over a strong league opponent.
“It's a good feeling,” Jayson Tatum said. “Any conference win is a good one, especially beating my pops.”
Crawford finished with 13 points and junior post Tyler Cook had 11 points. Junior shooting guard Mike Lewis finished with eight points, all in the second half.
The No. 9 large school, CBC (11-6, 2-2) opened strongly then wilted as it trailed by 15 points early in the fourth. But the Cadets took advantage of a lull in the Red Devils' intensity and raced back to cut the lead to 60-56 with 3:45 to play. Two possessions later, freshman forward Cale Catchings was called for an intentional foul when he wrapped up Jayson Tatum around his neck on a drive to the basket. Tatum knocked in four more free throws over two possessions to put the game out of reach.
The lapse that let CBC back into the game and the one to open the game frustrated Bennett.
“Their performance at the beginning was unacceptable,” Bennett said. “You have to stay focused and get stops. When we get leads we're doing that. When we don't we'll have slow close outs. It's about being focused and committing to the little things.”
Justin Tatum was disappointed with his team's lapse, too.
The Cadets executed perfectly the first few minutes but got away from the game plan and helped open the door for the Red Devils.
“Just went into a funk. We started settling for a lot of jump shots. They do what they do and leak out for layup,” Justin Tatum said. “We fell away from our defensive strategy when we got tired. We went on a spurt where we didn't play well.”
The Cadets got enough offensive output to put a scare into Chaminade.
Barnes finished with 18 points. Senior post Kenny Lesley had 22 points and junior guard Christian Willis scored 19 points. But their inability to keep the Red Devils out of transition and at the free throw line cost them their chance at a victory.
“We got away from our principles Coach gave us. The first couple of minutes we were pushing it. We were doing what we're supposed to do,” Barnes said. “When they started scoring we laid down, we can't do that.”
Chaminade flexed its muscle for much of the game. The Cadets remained undeterred as they clawed back. Jayson Tatum chalks that up to CBC's competitive spirit.
“They lost last time so they came ready to play,” he said. “They're a competitive team. They always find a way to fight back. It's a game of runs and we had more runs tonight.”
