The Savannah Country and host Calvary Day girls basketball teams seemed determined to play an edge-of-your-bleacher-seat game Tuesday night, even after the visiting Hornets had opened up a 15-point lead in the first quarter.
The Cavaliers trimmed their deficit to one point by midway through the third period, but they couldn’t afford a five-point swing on one play with 2:24 left in regulation.
When Stella Oelschig converted technical free throws for two of her game-high 23 points, Country Day was on its way to a 55-49 victory to clinch the Region 3-3A regular-season title.
“We were always taught to keep our heads up,” said Oelschig, a senior guard. “We came into the game not afraid. We really knew what we had to do. Whenever they got close to us, we still kept our heads up.”
The Hornets (17-5, 14-1 region with one game remaining) led wire to wire. The Cavaliers (18-5, 14-2) trailed 50-44 when Zora Geiger (team-high 20 points) drove for a fast-break layup and there was a whistle on what CDS thought was a three-point play. Instead, Geiger was called for a charge, negating the basket.
Teammate Bre Jones then was assessed a technical for slapping the floor in her reaction, Calvary coach Daniel Jackson said afterward, and she fouled out with her fifth.
Oelschig made both technical foul shots despite the noisy efforts of the partisan home crowd to increase the Country Day margin to eight, 52-44.
“The adrenaline rush is pretty crazy, but I just get in my own world and don’t focus on anything else and really just focus on the basket,” she said.
“Huge. That’s the gap they needed,” Jackson said. “We were not able to capitalize offensively. They made it tough for us pretty much all game to score.”
That was certainly true in the first quarter, when the Hornets – specifically AC Davis – started quickly. The senior power forward hit a short jumper, stole the ball and sank another jumper, all in the first 40 seconds.
Oelschig closed with a 3-pointer from the right baseline, a fast-break layup and trey from the left baseline, then teammate Sarah Catherine Gilpin completed the 10-0 run with a layup after SCD beat the press for a 19-4 advantage.
“The girls from Country Day always play hard,” Jackson said. “I expected it. With them playing hard, we lacked something defensively early, gave up too many points.
“That cushion from the beginning I think is what really set the tone,” he added.
The Cavaliers responded with a 17-7 second quarter in which they trailed by 17 points, 26-9, only to score the last 12. Molly Jane Smith splashed a 3-pointer, Destini Gooddine sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Jones hit one from almost the exact same spot and then she drove for a basket.
Goodine made one of two free throws with 4.5 seconds left for a 26-21 deficit at halftime.
“They’re very good and I knew they would make a run,” said Hornets coach Kenny Conroy, who tried to keep the Cavs off balance in switching between box-and-1, triangle-and-2 and 2-1-2 zone defenses. “We were going to live or die without No. 1 (Gooddine) or 2 (Smith) beating us.”
For a good while in the second half, Geiger took up that responsibility by scoring 16 of her team-high 20 points. Jackson calls Geiger the team’s “X factor” because she can get hot and be a big help, especially when teams focus on Gooddine and Jones, who was running the point.
Conroy said he was proud of the team for playing a great game in what figured to be a battle. Country Day snapped Calvary’s nine-game winning streak, which was bookended by the Hornets’ 46-44 home win on Jan. 12 and Tuesday’s outcome.
The coach said it was important that Davis and Oelschig – “who are the glue of his team” – have the ball in their hands at the end of the game. Davis is at 5-foot-8 an undersized post player who is aggressive in the lane and around the basket on offense and defense.
“We are definitely a smaller team this year,” said Davis, who finished with 11 points. “Making sure that we keep up with physicality inside is definitely very important. This team (Calvary) is very physical, and even they don’t have a lot of size. So making sure we match their aggressiveness is very important to being able to stay in the game.”
First-place Country Day and second-place Calvary Day have locked in their seedings for the region tournament, getting byes until the semifinals slated for Friday, Feb. 16 at the site of the Region 3-3A boys region regular-season champion (to be determined).
SAVANNAH COUNTRY DAY 55,
CALVARY DAY 49
SCD|19|7|16|13|--55
CDS|4|17|16|12|--49
SAVANNAH COUNTRY DAY (55)
McCorkle 2, Stella Oelschig 23, Hildebrandt 5, Gilpin 7, Bueno 7, AC Davis 11.
CALVARY DAY (49)
Destini Gooddine 10, Smith 6, Zora Geiger 20, B. Jones 9, A. Jones 4.
Records—SCD 17-5, 14-1 Region 3-3A; CDS 18-5, 14-2.
FINAL SCORES
TUESDAY Feb. 6, 2024
BOYS
Class 7A
Brunswick 68, Richmond Hill 58
Class 6A
Lakeside 56, Effingham 55
Class 5A
Jenkins 48, Bradwell 44
Class 4A
Burke Count 76, Islands 56
Class 3A
Johnson 49, Liberty County 38
Savannah Country Day 58, Calvary 56
Long County 66, Beach 55
Groves 51, Savannah Christian 39
Class 2A
Toombs 65, Windsor Forest 55
NON-Region
St. Andrews 51, Savannah High 50
Woodville Tompkins 73, Hilton Head Christian Academy 64
GIAA
Memorial Day 71, Twiggs Academy 33
GIRLS
TUESDAY Feb. 6, 2024
Class 7A
Richmond Hill 61, Brunswick 49
Class 6A
Lakeside 61, Effingham County 44
Class 5A
Jenkins 51, Bradwell 42
Class 4A
Burke County at Islands (NSR)
Class 3A
Liberty County at Johnson (NSR)
Savannah Country Day 55, Calvary 49
Long County at Beach (NSR)
Savannah Christian 47, Groves 42
Class 2A
Toombs 66, Windsor Forest 49
NON-Region
Woodville Tompkins at Hilton Head Christian Academy (NSR)
Bryan Co, 67. St. Vincent’s 39
GIAA
Twiggs Academy 59, Memorial Day 28
NOTE: NSR - No Score Reported
PHOTO Credit: Savannah Country Day Athletics
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