by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
Usually known for his defensive prowess, Mac Jennings‘ offensive play was the difference in the Saints’ 71-70 overtime win over Chesterfield Community in the Henrico Holiday Hoops quarterfinals.
The scored knotted at 70 with 10 seconds left in the extra period, St. Christopher’s came out of a timeout with a play designed to give them the last shot.
The Saints got a good look at the basket but the shot rimmed off and Jennings crashed the boards looking for a put back. He was fouled on his attempt with 1.2 seconds remaining and preceded to hit one of two free throws to secure the victory.
“He is our best defensive player,” St. Christopher’s coach Chris Brown said. “But he shattered his career high for points today. He just does the right things all the time. He is completely unselfish.”
Not normally a starter, Brown started Jennings so he could guard the Eagles’ best offensive players. Jennings’ played tough defense like he normally does but the senior also finished with 11 points.
“I felt good today,” Jennings said. “For some reason I couldn’t sleep last night. But today I stepped up and played loose.”
Charlie McCann led the Saints with 20 points, which included four 3-pointers, and Tom Hart and Sam Priddy both had 10. The Saints finished with 11 3’s.
St. Christopher’s came out hot and led 17-7 after the first quarter. The Saints hit three 3-pointers in the first, two by Jennings.
The Saints increased their lead to 23-8 early in the second quarter on a McCann 3-pointer. Chesterfield Community finally found some momentum behind strong full court pressure that led to turnovers and some easy baskets. A 21-12 run to close the half, that included nine points from Jerrod House, closed the gap for the Eagles to six at intermission.
“We hit some big shots early but their pressure started to bother us,” Brown said. “We had to make some adjustments.”
By the end of the third quarter Chesterfield Community had brought themselves to within three points with a defense that contained the Saints’ outside game. They could have been closer had it not been for their poor free throw shooting. The Eagles were 2 for 10 in the period.
Chesterfield Community took their first lead since they led 3-0 at 49-48 on a Jerrod Allen free throw with 6:27 remaining in the contest. The Eagles lead was at three with 1:09 left when St. Christopher’s Hart converted a 3-point play to tie the score at 63. Hart sent the game into overtime on the defensive end when he blocked a David Copeland drive as time expired.
Jennings gave the Saints a 70-68 lead in the overtime and then after Cori Grant tied the score for the Eagles, Jennings’ heroics won it for his team.
“Mac doesn’t get to start a lot which is a shame,” McCann said. “If you saw how hard he works at practice you would understand. He works his rear end off on defense.”
House led Chesterfield Community with 19 points and Copeland added 17 points.
St. Christopher’s strength is their outside shooting but the team does not want to have to rely on that alone for victories.
“It is something we are good at,” McCann said. “But we want to try and win games on the defensive end. Obviously Chesterfield Community was more athletic then us but we know what we are trying to do. We just try to execute our stuff.”
The Saints will now play Hermitage on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The Panthers beat Armstrong 47-45 in another quarterfinal.
Chesterfield Community 7 22 14 20 7 – 70
St. Christopher’s 17 18 11 17 8 – 71
Chesterfield Community: Able 2, Grant 9, A. Allen 9, J. Allen 10, Robinson 2, Copeland 17, House 19, Perry 2, Hunt 0. Totals: 26 15-36 70. 3-point goals: Copeland.
St. Christopher’s: Mitchell 9, McCann 20, Vozenilek 3, Klein 2, Priddy 10, Jennings 11, Hart 10, Erickson 6. Totals: 11 16-20 71. 3-point goals: McCann 4, Jennings 2, Erickson 2, Priddy 2, Vozenilek.
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