Sports
St. Thomas Academy Basketball Beats Tartan on Last-Second Shot
Junior guard Paddy Clancy hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining to propel the Cadets over the no. 8-ranked Titans.
St. Thomas Academy (12-8 overall) beat Minnesota’s no. 8-ranked Tartan boys basketball team (19-3 overall) Friday night after junior guard Paddy Clancy hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining.
Although the 44-42 outcome fell in its favor, many in attendance would agree St. Thomas Academy won a game in which it was outplayed for much of the 40 minutes.
Tartan jumped out to a 10-0 lead against a very tentative St. Thomas Academy. Streaky shooting plagued a Cadets team that failed to score its first points until five minutes into the contest.
Owing to a shrewd defense and smart shot selection, the Cadets were able to come all the way back from its deficit to take a 20-17 lead with two minutes to go in the first half.
“We just told the guys they had to get tougher,” Cadets head coach Mike Sjoberg said at halftime. “We told them we needed to space out the offense a bit better and and let them chase us for a while. We also needed to figure out the backscreens they were using with their post player.”
Sjoberg’s strategy would have worked perfectly if STA’s shooting woes had not returned in the second half. The Cadets found themselves down 31-25 with ten minutes left in the game but used a 10-4 run to pull to a 35-35 tie with 5:30 left in the game.
Down three points with 39 seconds left, senior captain Jordan Kruger scored a layup and got fouled but missed the freethrow that would have tied the game at 42 apiece.
Behind by one point, Kruger redeemed himself by rebounding the final Tartan shot with 14 seconds remaining and getting it to floor general Nick Waldvogel.
“We just tried to play good team defense,” Kruger said after the game. “I missed that freethrow but my teammates picked me up. We all agreed in the huddle that anyone who gets the ball, just shoot it. We had faith in each other.”
Waldvogel took the outlet pass from Kruger, dribbled the length of the court and passed to a wide-open Paddy Clancy, who hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining.
“I just tried to get open,” Clancy said after the game. “I didn’t think, I just shot the ball. Tartan is a great team. This win is a real confidence booster for us heading into the final part of the season.”