After his team eked out a 51-48 overtime win in Wednesday’s Group AA Division 4 state semifinals against E.C. Glass, the first thing Grafton coach Jeremy Jordan addressed was the empty feeling that Hilltoppers coach Roy Roberson Jr. was likely experiencing at the time.
“I’ve been on the other side of that coin,” Jordan said in the moments following Wednesday’s dramatic victory. “To lose in the fashion [Roberson Jr.] did down the stretch, he’ll beat himself up over that for the next year to come.”
Jordan knows the feeling. He says last year’s heartbreaking one-point loss in overtime of the state championship game against Christiansburg still bugs him. He’s carried that feeling to each one of the Clippers’ practices this season, not only to remind him of the type of grind and preparation it takes to make it that far, but also because this is the last hoorah for the senior core of star forward Elijah Moore, point guard Tyler McMillan, and forward Jesse Santiago, who have backboned the two most successful seasons in school history.
“It’s on my practice plan every day,” Jordan said of the 70-69 score from last year’s Division 4 state final. “Just to remind me that we have one more chance at this thing.”
Following Wednesday’s 51-48 victory in overtime against E.C. Glass in the state semifinals, Grafton yet again has reached its destination of playing in the final basketball game of the season.
The Clippers will look to rid the sour taste left over from last year’s loss in the state title game when the Clippers take on Salem (18-10) in the Group AA Division 4 championship at 9 p.m. at VCU’s Siegel Center.
“We left the game last year down and dejected, and our goal from day one has been to find a way to get back to the state championship, and we’ve accomplished that goal,” Jordan said. “We’re both excited and fortunate to be in this position again, and now that we’re here, we’re certainly going to try and not let this one get away from us.”
Jordan admits he uses last year’s state-championship loss as motivation more for himself rather than to fire up his team, but added that the players haven’t forgotten either.
Moore says he and the team use last year’s loss more as a reminder of the things they can improve on this time around.
“We talk about it every once in awhile,” Moore said. “We’ve watched it two or three times on tape to look at the turnovers and little things we could have done better.”
McMillan said the feeling of losing the way the Clippers did almost a year ago to the day against Christiansburg was a big reason they were able to prevail in overtime on Wednesday.
“Once overtime hit, we all knew the feeling of losing like that,” McMillan said during Wednesday’s postgame press conference. “We knew that in order to come out with the win we had to come up with a defensive stop.”
The expectation the Clippers had of getting back to this point in the season showed as there was little – if any – celebration following their dramatic overtime win on Wednesday before the 300-plus fans who made the trip to Richmond for the semfinal game.
“We’re already focusing on Salem,” said Santiago, who made the game-winning layup off a steal in overtime Wednesday, immediately after the game. “We’re already scouting them, looking them up on the internet and what not. We’re sure coach is going to come up with a good game plan. We know we have to come out hard and ready to practice tomorrow.”
Jordan says Salem poses a lot of the same challenges Christiansburg presented last season in terms of their strength and athleticism, and added that the Spartans run a disciplined and efficient 2-3 zone on defense.
Salem is led by Troy Mann, a versatile 6-foot-4 junior guard/forward who scored 26 points in the Spartans’ 76-69 semifinal win over Potomac Falls on Tuesday. Matt Hill (6’5) and Alex Light (6’5) make up perhaps the biggest front line Grafton has seen all year, and point guard Will Pratt, who shot 4-7 from beyond the arc Tuesday, is a left-handed sharp shooter who can fill it up from outside when hot.
Salem has also gotten solid production of late from its two senior role players, captain John Repass and Shawn McDaniel.
“Troy Mann and Matt Hill are as good of players at the 3 and 4 (positions) that we’ve seen this year,” Jordan said. “Pratt is one of those little guys who you can’t give any space to shoot the ball, and [Alex] Light is a big-time presence inside – he looks about 6-5, 285 pounds on tape – and is the type of player who can dominate inside with his sheer size.
“They’re a team that lost five of their first seven games to start the season while some of their big guys finished up football, but since then [Salem] has been playing as well as anyone in the state, which is why they’re playing in the state championship game.”
While Grafton spent a good portion of Thursday’s practice watching game film, the Clippers’ focus remains on themselves. Moore acknowledged the little things Grafton could have done better last year, and believes the outcome will rest on whether his team executes the way they have in winning their last 20 games in a row.
Moore, who had one of the worst offensive outings of his high school career shooting-wise on Wednesday when he was just 3-19 (but still managed a 16-point, 10 rebound double-double) from the floor. McMillan didn’t have his best stuff either, yet also finished with a double-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and shot 3-9 with eight turnovers.
But Grafton, true to its motto all year long, found a way.
They’ll look to do the same thing Saturday.
Group AA Division 4 State Championship
Who: Region I Champion Grafton (28-2) vs.
Region IV Runner-Up Salem (20-8)
When: Saturday, March 9th, 9 p.m.
Where: VCU’s Siegel Center in Richmond
