Aquinas claims third in Classic; Greeneville tops Tennessee High in consolation

BRISTOL — One night after seeing its head coach ejected during a semifinal loss, St. Thomas Aquinas bounced back and took third place in the 42nd annual Classic at Tennessee High with a hard-fought 68-59 win over Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Clarence Westbrook Jr. was the catalyst for the Raiders (13-3), connecting on 10-for-18 from the field for 27 points, including four 3s and three steals, as St. Thomas Aquinas was led by assistant coach Erving Morales, who stepped in after head coach Julius Sandi was ejected during a semifinal loss on Tuesday against Bishop O'Connell. "It was a tough loss last night, but we can't keep our heads down, we have got to stay up and keep fighting and we came back here today and fought hard and got a W," said Kellson Sandi, one of two Sandi sons who play for the Raiders, having recorded 16 points, seven boards and three steals in the win. St. Thomas Aquinas trailed 48-46 going into the fourth quarter before the Raiders took command, outscoring the Cougars, 22-11 — including an 11-0 run — in the fourth quarter. Another Sandi brother, Drake, added 20 points, five boards, five steals and five assists for the Raiders, which forced 17 turnovers, finishing with 14 steals, and a 3-1 record in The Classic. Okojie Harmony was the lone scorer in doubles figures for Our Lady of Mount Carmel (14-3) with 14 points. Tristan Wilson added nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Ralfs Rudusans contributed eight points, five boards and three assists for the Cougars, which finished 2-2 in the Classic. FIFTH PLACE: BEARDEN 62, NORTH MECKLENBURG (NC) 52 Justin Nordin canned three 3s and finished with 26 points, and also pulled down eight rebounds – seven on the offensive end — and dished out four assists, as Bearden finished with a 4-1 record in The Classic to finish in fifth place. Bearden (17-1), which dropped its only game of the season in the quarterfinals against St. Thomas Aquinas, was the only team to play five games, and the Bulldogs won of them. "Playing five games, I think it is more on your mental than your body, it is more in random places, but when you get in the game you forget about it," Nordin said. "You just think about let's get this 'W'. It is not fifth place we wanted, we wanted first place, but we are going to take it and get better as a team." Bearden also received 12 points from Brendan Murphy and 11 points, four boards, three assists and three steals from Carson Asbaty. The Bulldogs had 31 rebounds, including 16 on the offensive end, overcoming a 45-41 deficit entering the final period to finish on top. North Mecklenburg (10-2), which is a two-time winner of The Classic — with the last time coming in 2017 — struggled to maintain its edge when ExZavier Young — who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds — had to leave with an injury. D.J. Lindsey also had 14 points, while Alek Lewandowski added 11 points. Ashton Pierce had seven points, five boards and three assists, and Wilson Estwick dished out five assists in the loss. SIXTH PLACE: CALVARY BAPTIST (LA) 60, COLUMBIA (GA) 54 Tyrone Jamison Jr. tallied 27 points and six assists, and Jaiden Hall addded three 3s and 17 points, along with five rebounds and four steals as Calvary Baptist rebounded from an opening round loss to leave with three wins heading back to Louisiana. Craig Davis added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (12-3), which outrebounded Columbia, 38-22. "It is crazy. We are in sixth place and the team that is going to finish second, we both are going to have one loss," said Calvary Baptist head coach Victor Morris, whose Cavaliers lost to Bearden in the opening round. "It just shows the type of tournament and type of competition that you have got, I still feel like that first day we didn't play our best basketball. These guys regrouped, every time you step on the court you want to play to win. I think we will leave here, not with just a trophy, but we got something out of coming here too." Columbia (9-4), which trailed 45-44 going into the final period, was paced by C.J. Jacobs with 21 points, four boards and three steals. Zayd Muhammad tallied 10 points and Jace Smith added nine points in the loss. CONSOLATION: GREENEVILLE 54, TENNESSEE HIGH 45 Greeneville picked up its second win of the season, both in The Classic, rallying from a 21-5 first quarter deficit to defeat the Vikings, which was outscored 49-24 over the final three periods. "I knew being down was tough, being down 16 or 17 there early, but we had won one and had to win a close one," Greeneville head coach Brad Woolsey said. "Seeing some guys do some things down the stretch where they have to make plays...Making plays to win games and close ones is important because that is something that you learn how to do so it was good they learned that tonight." Yordan Mills was the spark for the Green Devils, scoring 21 points, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, and also tallied five rebounds and three assists for Greeneville (2-13), which defeated University High earlier in The Classic. Taren Claridy had a trio of 3s and 11 points and Zy Neal contributed six points, eight boards and three assists for Greeneville, which canned 11 from long range, while making just 6-of-25 from inside the arc. Tennessee High (12-4), which went 0-3 in The Classic, was paced by Reed Miller with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots, while Braden Howard and Caiden Terry added 10 points each. Russell Blevins pulled down nine rebounds and Terry added seven in the loss. The Vikings made just one shot from 3-point range. "We started out with a chip on our shoulder, I thought we were ready to play," Tennessee High head coach Michael McMeans said. "As you get going, you can't get overconfident or whatever they did, they took their foot off the gas and it is hard to turn it back on. You have got to stay on the whole time. I don't know if they thought they had it won in the first quarter, but respect to Greeneville, they never gave up and they made big shots and they just kept coming at us." *** ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM MVP: Owen Lentz, Webb School Carson Asbaty, Bearden; Darius Bivins, Bishop O'Connell; Ty Cobb, Upperman; Corey Dixon, Bishop O'Connell; Tristan Franklin, Bishop O'Connell; Richard Jackson, Thomas Jefferson; C.J. Jacobs, Columbia; Tyrone Jamison Jr., Calvary Baptist; Alex Leeth, Webb; D.J. Lindsey Jr., North Mecklenburg; Wilson Luton, Webb School; Justin Nordin, Bearden; James Nowells Jr., Olympia; Ashton Pearce, North Mecklenburg); Drake Sandi, St. Thomas Aquinas; Kellson Sandi, St. Thomas Aquinas; Cam Swearengen, Webb School; Clarence Westbrook Jr., St. Thomas Aquinas; Tristan Wilson, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.