Herculaneum swept host Crystal City in a girls-boys basketball doubleheader on Friday night, and both Blackcat teams are riding a wave of winning just before district tournaments begin.
Less than 24 hours after beating their closest rival on the small-schools side of the Jefferson County Activities Association, the Blackcat teams traveled to Grandview and again, Herky swept both games.
The Blackcat girls (13-10, 5-0) blew out Crystal 61-28, but trailed the Eagles (14-6, 3-2) after the first quarter before ultimately shutting them out 10-0 in the fourth in a 40-28 victory. The win clinched the third straight JCAA small-schools championship for the Blackcats, who have won seven straight games.
Meanwhile, the Herky boys (14-7, 4-1) – winners of six in a row – needed overtime to fight off the Hornets (9-13, 1-3) 67-65 and then buried Grandview (5-18, 0-5) 70-32. But a Jan. 14 loss at St. Pius X cost the Blackcat boys the small-schools title as the Lancers finished 5-0 in league play. St. Pius (16-8) got that fifth league win in dramatic fashion Monday night, edging host St. Vincent 61-60 in double overtime.
The Herculaneum and Crystal City boys staged a masterpiece of JCAA theater Friday with a back-and-forth game that was tied 40-40 going into the fourth quarter and 57-57 going into OT.
With seconds to go in the fourth and the Blackcats leading 57-54, Crystal City head coach Phil Tessereau called a timeout just as Hornet junior guard Ian Kirn launched a 3-point attempt that swished through. The shot didn’t count, but Kirn got a second chance after the timeout, rotating to the other side of the floor and hitting a last-second 3-pointer as he fell back into the Hornets’ student section. So it was on to overtime.
Freshman guard Nolan Eisenbeis gave Crystal a 59-57 lead on two free throws with 2:54 left in OT, but Herky junior guard Ethan Hoskins sank a trey at 2:31 to put the Blackcats ahead for good. Herky junior Dylan Jarvis pulled down a defensive rebound and his 3-point shot from the corner gave Herculaneum a 63-59 lead with 1:32 to play.
“I hadn’t done that in a while,” Jarvis said. “It feels good to hit some 3s now. Especially late in games.”
Dylan’s dad Jason Jarvis, the Blackcat head coach, wasn’t quite sure it was the best shot selection, but he couldn’t help but be pleased his son made it.
“I was not liking him shooting that shot at the time. But it went in, so I tip my hat to my son,” the coach said.
Down by four, Crystal City wasn’t ready to let the Blackcats leave with a sweep. Hornet senior guard Nate Pruneau’s basket trimmed the lead to 63-61, but both teams were in the double-bonus and Blackcat junior guard Gabe Watkins made two free throws. Crystal City senior forward Calloway Dashner, who finished with a game-high 21 points, drilled a basket with 55 seconds left in OT to make it 65-63 Blackcats.
Calloway and Hoskins had a scoring duel early in the fourth quarter, trading baskets five times. Hoskins led the winners with 20 points.
Tessereau called Dashner “a force” for the Hornets.
“Even if he’s not doing it offensively, he’s very valuable,” Tessereau said. “When he can find some offensive space, teams have really been closing down on him and that makes it hard for him to operate.”
Coach Jarvis was equally impressed with Hoskins.
“Hoskins was on fire,” he said. “I told Tessereau before the game, that’s one of those kids who hasn’t really (gone) off yet but could score 20 or more in a game.
“Defensively, I was proud of how we played. But Dashner tore us up.”
Watkins exceeded his season scoring average of 17 points per game with 18 against Crystal. Tessereau threw a diamond-and-1 defense against him that worked at times.
“I seldom use a junk defense, but I’ve been working on it in practice in anticipation of this game,” Tessereau said. “Having somebody like Nate Pruneau go out there and guard Watkins helps because he’s a terrific player. It was pretty effective, although (Watkins) did get loose there late in the game. He’s got the ball in his hands so much, if he gets past our initial line of defense, we’re in trouble.”
At Grandview, Watkins was nine for nine from the free-throw line and ended up with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and six steals.
In Friday’s girls game, seniors Kyrsten Britton and Macey Pilliard each scored 13 points to lead the Blackcats. Britton didn’t score in double figures in the first 14 games of the season, but has done it six times since then.
Junior Molly Clemmons led Crystal with nine points.
“We try to play our best basketball at the end of the year and we focus on that a lot,” Herculaneum head coach Riley Blair said. “Early in the year, we work on some things and I felt like we’ve done that. We’ve battled a lot of adversity with injuries and sickness. We went through a stretch where we were missing two or three girls, but we told the kids to trust the process.
“Every time we step on the floor, I feel all five girls are gaining confidence.”
Both Herculaneum teams will play in the Class 4 District 2 tournament at Ste. Genevieve next week; seeding had not been announced before the Leader deadline. Park Hills Central’s boys and girls are the defending champions in that district.
Crystal City will host the Class 2 District 4 tournament. The Hornet girls are the No. 4 seed and will take on No. 5 Bismarck (6-19) at noon Saturday. On the boys side, Crystal City is seeded third and will play No. 6 Principia (3-16) at 7 p.m. Monday.