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Southfield Christian suffocates Everest Collegiate

Dan Stickradt | March 13, 2012 | Comments (6)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Death by suffocation can sometimes been slow and painful. In other times, it can be long and quite horrendous.

Southfield Christian caused such death by suffocation Monday night, and it was the long, punishing, agonizing death type.

The Eagles, ranked second in the state, gave Clarkston Everest Collegiate a cancer cell and sent the Mountaineers to its defeat with a 64-42 triumph in a Class D regional semifinal at Birmingham Roeper’s Bloomfield Hills campus.

Gavin Toma spearhead the effort with 21 points with six rebounds, six assists and five steals for the Eagles. Senior guard Chris Dewberry added 15 points with three steals and three assists and Frank Holeck chipped in with nine pints with five rebounds for Southfield Christian (21-2).

“Our goal has been to wear down the other team hopefully over the 32 minutes,” said Southfield Christian first-year coach Josh Baker, who has now led the Eagles deeper in the postseason than any other coach in school history. “Tonight I thought we were able to that.”

Southfield Christian will face Detroit Westside Christian, 89-67 winners over Eastpointe Eaton Academy, in the regional finals Wednesday at 7 p.m. Westside Christian reached the Final Four last year, but graduated eight players from that team.

NO WHERE TO GO: Clarkston Everest Collegiate's David Smith tries to get past Southfield Christian's Lindsey Hunter (front) and Chris Dewberry and the Eagles' vaunted press that led to a 64-42 triumph in Monday's Class D regional semifinals. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt

Still, Westside does cause a matchup problem for Southfield Christian, as it plays six players that stand between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-8.

“That’s going to be a problem,” noted Baker. “I think our guards are a little bit deeper, so hopefully we can kind of wear down their guards and I;m sure they’ll try to wear us down with their bigs.

“We’re excited about moving forward,” added Baker. “I motto has been one-out for the whole tournament, one possession at a time in each game. Now we’ll go back and watch film and get ready for Westside Christian.”

The Eagles dropped down to Class D enrollment-wise two years ago and the demotion could be a good omen for Southfield Christian. So far, it has in the state tournament.

The Eagles made more baskets in the first half (17) than the Mountaineers attempted shots (15), and that was aided by some lethal full-court defense that wreaked havoc on Everest the whole night.

Southfield Christian made 17-of-32 field goal attempts in the first half in building its 42-22 lead at the half and finished 25-for-56 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the foul line.

Another 6-0 spurt to start the third quarter gave the Eagles a 48-22 cushion with 6:45 still to go and Southfield led 50-31 heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Everest was able to close the deficit down to 14 points at 50-36 with 4:55 to play, only to see Toma help jack up the press again for a back-breaking 10-0 run to rebuild a 24-point advantage (60-36) with 2:56 to go.

The Eagles’ defense forced 19 turnovers in the contest.

Southfield Christian led 15-9 after the first quarter but went to its press and quick shots for a 27-13 run in the second stanza good for its 22-point halftime advantage. The Eagles caused six turnovers in the second quarter and scored 11 points off turnovers in the frame.

ON THE BREAK: Southfield Christian's Gavin Toma races in for the layup after a steal as Clarkston Everest Collegiate's Blake Beauchamp gives chase. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt

Still, Everest Collegiate, just a third-year program that won its first district last Friday, battled the whole game.

“We came out and played a better second half,” said Everest Collegiate coach Ann Lowney. “We kept working and didn’t give up and cut it to 14. We had to give our fans something to cheer about.

“But their press is very good and it caused a lot of problems for us. That and they shot the ball awfully well in the first half,” added Lowney. “They are a very athletic, quick team that can cause a lot of problems for (other) teams with their pressure defense.”

Everest Collegiate (17-7) actually outscored the Eagles 11-8 in the third quarter and were only outscored 14-9 in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 26 points in the contest.

Donald Allen, Everest’s 6-foot-5 senior center, bowed out with eight points, 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and three assists for the Mountaineers. Junior guard Blake Beauchamp added eight points and five rebounds for Everest.

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