Collegium Charter holds off Church Farm School rally

By Peter DiGiovanni
pdgiovanni07@gmail.com
@PeteDLNontwitter

WEST WHITELAND>> The Collegium Charter boys basketball team withstood a second half meltdown that saw Church Farm School come back from a 12 point halftime deficit to take a two point lead after three periods.

But the visiting Cougars executed flawlessly down the stretch and came away with a thrilling 59-54 Bicentennial League win over the host Griffins Wednesday night.

Collegium (6-3 Bicentennial, 6-7 overall) was outscored 22-8 in a third period that saw the Griffins (5-2,8-3) start the period on a 15-0 run that saw the Cougars turn the ball over four times in that frenetic  span.

Church Farm School outscored the Cougars 22-8 in the third period to take a 43-41 edge after three periods.

But the fourth period saw the Cougars outscore the Griffins 18-11 and force four fourth period Church Farm School turnovers to take home the hard fought victory.

Duce Jackson led Collegium with 15 points, 12 rebounds and he even played the role of point guard for the Cougars bringing the ball up the floor against constant Griffins pressure.

“Duce is really a “4” but we ask him to play the point for us and do a lot a lot of other things,” Collegium charter coach Markel Jones said. “He has done every single thing I have asked him to do since the first day he was in the program.

“And we need a win like this where we had to fight and fight through adversity. We have been through a lot. We had some transfers from our roster that hurt us but the guys have built a winning program here and tonight they really showed how tough a team they can be. We were 27-3 last year and they want to keep the winning going. We turned the ball over a lot and we have things we have to work on but they will fight and fight.”

The Griffins shot a frigid eight for 29 from the field in the first half but they turned things around in the third period, going eight for 12 from the field with Cooper Shivers, who led the Griffins with 18 points draining three treys in the second half and Gavriel Henriquez-Peralta leading the scoring parade. Henriquez-Peralta had nine points, with six of those coming in the fourth period.

After the Cougars withstood the third period Griffins run, Jackson scored six points late in the third period to draw the Cougars within two at 43-41 at the end of three.

The fourth period was a back and forth affair and when Henriquez-Peralta drove to the basket with 1:46 to play in the fourth period, the Griffins had a 51-48 lead.

Collegium then hit six of seven free throws to take a 54-53 lead with 43 seconds to play in the fourth period. Church Farm was called for traveling with 28 seconds to play.

Trevon Mack was fouled with 25.6 seconds to play and Mack drained both free throws to make it a 57-54 Collegium lead. The Griffins came up the floor but Shivers missed on a three-ball and Jackson cleared the boards, got fouled and hit one of two free throws for a 58-54 Cougars lead with just 14 seconds to play.

Church Farm School hurried up the floor but missed on an outside jumper and the Cougars Mack grabbed the rebound and the Cougars had survived and came away with possibly their biggest win of the season.

“We lost some of our guys this season so i have to play point guard and do a lot of things for this team,” Jackson said. “I will do anything to help the team win and I think it makes me stronger as a person and as a player. We got unraveled a little in the third period and we have things to work on but we fought and did what the coaches told us. I think if we play as hard as we did tonight we can be a very good team.”

Collegium Charter 59, Church Farm School 54.

COLLEGIUM CHARTER (59) Schinituz 3 2-3 11, Buchanan 1 2-2 4, Woolfolk 0 0-0 0, Jackson 4 7-9 15, Pitt 4 3-4 12, Mack 4 2-2 11, Kiley 3 0-0 6. Totals19 16-20 59.

CHURCH FARM SCHOOL (54) Henriquez-Peralta 4 1-1 9, Shivers 5 5-6 18, Smith 3 0-0 9, Jarvis 3 0-0 6, Paul 1 0-0 2, Anyimah 3 2-2 8, Sow 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 8-9 54.

Collegium Charter       17 16 8 18-59
Church Farm School   13 8 22 11-54
3-point goals: Schintuz 3, Pitt, Mack, Shivers 3, Smith 3.