Spartans cannot complete comeback against Sacred Heart

In a battle of highly-ranked teams, Class 1A No. 1 Sacred Heart held off a strong comeback by Class 7A No. 3 Mountain Brook to win, 81-74, in a quarterfinal matchup of the Steel City Invitational on Saturday.

Sacred Heart’s offense was clicking on all cylinders from the get-go, as they scored 23 and 22 in the first two quarters to take a 45-25 lead into the halftime break.

“They just got off to an incredible start,” Mountain Brook coach Bucky McMillan said. “We knew that we had to play our best game.”

After a fairly even third quarter, the Spartans mounted a huge charge in the final frame.

Mountain Brook went on a 24-6 run to tie the game at 69-all with 2:57 to play, as Sean Elmore nailed a three-point shot from the corner. However, the Cardinals stayed the course and converted down the stretch, as the Spartans were unable to get over the hump and never led in the game.

“I did think that we could come back, even when we were down 20, and be in the game. We did that. I don’t care what anyone says, that’s a great team,” McMillan said. “We used our depth and we wore them down in the end. Our plan throughout was to continuously go to the rim and try to get them in foul trouble, and we did that.”

Freshman Trendon Watford was the star of the show for Mountain Brook, scoring 27 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. He converted 11-of-16 shots from the floor and dished out three assists.

“I’m seeing tremendous growth and improvement. His (next) step is just going to be the mental focus that will come as he matures and gets older. The mental focus on every play,” McMillan said.

Kevion Nolan poured in a game-high 31 points, but he did most of his damage at the free throw line, making 16-of-18 from the charity stripe. He hit the key shot in the game with

“He made some huge threes late, some huge baskets,” McMillan said. “If that’s not his A-plus game, I expect him to play for Mike Krzyzewski (at Duke). He was awesome.”

With the loss, Mountain Brook will play Madison Academy in a loser’s bracket game on Monday at 1:30 p.m.