BARRE — From the early days of the basketball season, Grace Christian coach Brian Bushee knew the Lions' success would rely upon group chemistry. With a group stuffed with gifted worldwide gamers who had by no means performed collectively earlier than, the largest problem was determining tips on how to play as one cohesive unit.
It's solely becoming that Saturday afternoon at Barre Auditorium to seal the championship confirmed how properly Grace Christian gelled on the courtroom.
Danilo Ignjatovic drove down the left aspect of the lane within the remaining minute of the Division IV championship recreation and drew a pair of Danville defenders. The Lions senior guard discovered an open man, threw an alley-oop to Vojin Cosic, who completed close to the rim — extending Grace's result in 10 with simply 53 seconds remaining. There was nothing to do however let the clock tick all the way down to zero as Grace clinched this system's first state title in simply its second full season with a 52-41 victory.
“These guys simply love one another and that's the way in which they play,” Bushee stated moments after chopping the web. “They see themselves and so they're not afraid to benefit from the second.”
The primary three quarters had been the back-and-forth battle you'd anticipate from a championship recreation with 13 complete lead modifications and eight ties. In a recreation the place Grace diminished its bench to simply six gamers, Lions sixth man Baran Turan got here by within the fourth quarter.
Danville's Anthoni Guinard linked on a midrange jumper from the elbow because the third quarter expired to drag the Bears inside three, 40-37. Danville guard Cooper Calkins stored the tempo going to begin the fourth, attending to the basket and ending close to the rim simply 9 seconds into the ultimate body.
The Lions and Bears traded baskets over the following minute earlier than Turan took over — scoring 9 extra Grace factors over a four-minute stretch.
Turan began the person drive with a layup conversion with 5:42 left. The taller guard additionally recorded one other drive downfield, absorbing contact and ending close to the rim once more. These two baskets gave Turan confidence as he drained a step-up 3-pointer on the following possession to increase the Lions' result in 45-39 with 4:16 remaining.
Either side went chilly offensively over the following two-plus minutes earlier than Turan capped a drive by beating his defender to finish one other layup with simply 91 seconds remaining. Turan's remaining rating pushed Grace's result in 47-39. Playmaker Grace stated he knew he needed to be prepared for his quantity to be referred to as.
“As a sixth man, I all the time attempt to be prepared,” Turan stated. “The time got here and I performed one-on-one and made just a few strikes – it felt nice.
The significance of the championship isn’t misplaced on the gamers, lots of whom are hundreds of kilometers away from house.
“Proper now we're so blissful … it's all the time been our dream,” Turan stated. “We labored so laborious, typically tears, typically feelings and we got here from a great distance. (Cosij) got here from Serbia, I from Turkey. It's been an extended journey for us.”
Cosij and fellow Grace huge man Aleksander Zivanovic helped management the boards and restricted Danville to 1 possession for a lot of the recreation. Cosic was additionally a helper on offense, main the Lions with 15 factors. Danville had no reply because the 6-foot ahead received the ball on the block.
“I can't clarify the feelings I really feel. It's one thing particular,” Cosij stated.
Danville held a 21-17 lead heading into the locker room, marking the Bears' largest lead of the sport. Calkins — who tied Cosije with a game-high 15 factors — closed the primary half with two layups to place the Bears forward.
Cosij got here out aggressive from the break, scoring 5 fast factors within the opening minute to drag his Lions inside one. Danville answered with a mid-range jumper courtesy of Guinard earlier than Pavle Mikic's nook 3-pointer tied the rating at 27.
Grace took the lead two minutes afterward an Ignjatovic 3-pointer from the highest of the important thing and by no means let up as she hit simply her second all-season excessive.
