Observations: Boyd Anderson defeats St. Andrew’s in triple overtime of Kreul Classic final

What a game!

In a 7-round fight, the Boyd Anderson Cobras held off a ferocious comeback by the St. Andrew’s Scots to win the Publix Challenge bracket of the Kreul Classic 72-69. Two clutch free-throws by 2021 junior guard Kenny Ermet in the final overtime sealed the deal for Boyd Anderson. The Scots turned the ball over around half-court on the ensuing possession with a chance to tie the game.

The Scots got off to a terrible start, going scoreless until the 6:40 mark of the second quarter. Up until St. Andrew’s first bucket on a free-throw by 2020 Yussif Basa-Ama, the Cobras jumped out to a 13-0 lead. At the half, Boyd Anderson held a 31-15 advantage. The Cobras maintained a double-digit lead at the end of three quarters, but the Scots offense was starting to brew heading into the final eight minutes.

Then, the paradigm shift in this game began...

St. Andrew’s exploded in the final quarter, led by Basa-Ama, scoring 24 points in the final frame to send the game to overtime tied at 53. A Yale University commit, Basa-Ama would foul out late in the fourth quarter, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. With the future Bulldog out, the Scots picked up huge minutes from 2020 senior guard Jack May, 2021 guard Devin Hines and 2021 forward Josh Minott.  May finished with nine points, including a game-tying lay-in off a missed free-throw. In the first overtime, May would hit a tough driving lay-up and one to tie as well. Hines finished with 14 points for St. Andrew’s while Minott chipped in with ten. Minott, at six-foot-eight is particularly long, stealing an in-bounds pass for the Scots on the Cobras baseline while collecting seven rebounds.

Top Performer:

Kemari Brown - Boyd Anderson: The six-foot-four 2020 guard led all scorers with 23 points in the championship game. Brown was especially strong in regulation, hitting five 3-pointers. One of his biggest buckets of the night came in the final overtime when the senior drove into the center of a lane for a bucket off the glass. Brown is a crafty guard for the Cobras who was the best player on the floor in this thriller.

Kenny Ermet - Boyd Anderson: How well do you play down the stretch? The six-foot-one guard arguably had the biggest plays of the night with a steal in overtime and two clutch free-throws. In the final overtime, the Cobras were struggling from the line, going one-for-five up to that point. Ermet changed all of that with his shots from the line and and finished with seven points.

Yussif Basa-Ama: St. Andrew’s: Along with the rest of the team, I thought Basa-Ama got off to a slow start. Give credit to six-foot-five 2020 forward/center Rivald Fairweather for defending him well. Fairweather has a big frame  and finished with11 points and six rebounds. The future Ivy league star missed some shots around the rim before picking it up in the second half when St. Andrew’s began to crawl back into the game. Basa-Ama is difficult to defend with his length and has a pretty hook shot he uses with great success. I thought his play around the offensive rim really picked up over the final two quarters. Even when he is not making shots, the six-foot-nine senior is a rim protector and can dwindle a team's field goal percentage down in a hurry.

Hines/May/Minott: In a game this exciting, the Scots trio played terrific in all three overtimes without Basa-Ama. I was impressed with all three's ability to fight and hit big buckets when both teams were taking counter-punches in the extra sessions. In a game with so many twist and turns, St. Andrew’s deserves a lot of credit for battling back and giving the fans in attendance a wonderful showcase of basketball. The effort by both teams in this one was phenomenal. It is almost a shame one had to lose.

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