Great Falls makes late push, but it’s not enough in 1A semifinal loss to Calhoun County
It felt as if every Red Devil bucket down the stretch would spark a comeback and give Great Falls a chance to keep its season alive.
And the Red Devils did have a chance.
Down by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter, Great Falls used an unrelenting full-court press and a championship will to pull the game’s margin to as little as six with fewer than three minutes remaining. But it ultimately wasn’t enough: The Red Devils fell to Calhoun County, 76-67, in the 1A Upper State championship game on Saturday afternoon in Bob Jones University’s Davis Field House in Greenville — falling one game short of making its second state championship appearance in three years.
“Tough loss,” Fair told reporters postgame, a few moments before he’d go in and console his team who’d just seen its season end. “We lost to a really good team. It was a game of runs. We had opportunities. I thought we did cash in on those opportunities in the second quarter (but didn’t) in the fourth. ... By the fourth quarter, we wanted to have it to single digits. We cut it, the momentum kind of shifted, but we also kind of forced some turnovers late and just didn’t cash in.”
He added: “To beat a team like Calhoun County, those are the things you gotta cash-in on. And when you don’t, this is the outcome of it.”
Saturday afternoon began as a back-and-forth affair and never stopped.
Calhoun County, with its unrelenting full-court pressure, appeared to rattle the Red Devils to start the game. The Saints pushed the game to a 9-1 margin and forced two key Red Devil starters — point guard Foxx Moore and senior forward Tali Coleman — into early foul trouble.
But Great Falls responded: The team from Chester County earned its first lead, 15-14, with less than 30 seconds left in the first quarter thanks to a contested Dre Coleman layup. A buzzer-beating bank-of-a-3-pointer from Jordan Holmes delivered Great Falls with a 18-14 lead at the end of one.
The Red Devils’ lead ballooned as large as 29-21 — their own full-court press causing Calhoun County headaches, Moore and-one layups keeping the game’s momentum squarely with the Red Devils.
But Calhoun County wouldn’t be denied its moment: The Saints went on a 21-3 run to end the first half — and they used that momentum to carry them through a dominant third quarter, where they led 65-49 heading into the fourth quarter.
For most of the fourth, coach Fair tried just about everything: He played small. He played big — which Great Falls can uniquely do, given its trio of 6-foot-7 contributors (Will Manning and the Coleman brothers).
But turnovers still piled up. Red Devil shooters, other than Region 2-1A Player of the Year Nywun Cloud, stayed cold.
And CC kept going.
The Red Devils made one last push, cutting the game to 69-61 with 4:24 left after a Tali Coleman free throw, and then 69-63 after a Holmes pull-up jumper with 2:50 left. But the Saints put the game away at the free-throw line.
Naasir Guinyard, who finished with 13 points, led the Saints, and Russell Brunson Jr. added 11.
CC will go for its ninth state championship on Friday at USC Aiken at 2 p.m.
The Red Devils saw four players finish in double figures: Cloud (22 points), Jordan Holmes (19), Zae Brown (10) and Dre Coleman (10). Moore finished with three. Aaden Fair finished with two. And Tali Coleman and Will Manning finished with one point apiece.
As the time ran out on Saturday, Great Falls players put towels over their heads, the finality of the season washing over them.
“I’m super proud of these seniors,” said Fair, who finished his third season at the Great Falls helm on Saturday. “Got seven seniors, six players and then Dre Spencer our manager, he’s a senior as well. These kids in three years lost one region game. Won a state championship as sophomores. They wanted to be one of the classes that left two pictures on the wall. We fell short, but again, I’m super proud of them.
“They left their mark behind, the way they fought, competed, day-in and day-out, and now it’s about mentoring the guys coming up behind them.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 5:17 PM.
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