Wesleyan boys win title

By Jay Stone

For the AJC

MACON — Fans who came to the Class A state championship between Whitefield Academy and Wesleyan expecting pretty basketball could be forgiven if they asked for their money back at halftime after two quarters of bruising, foul-riddled, tight-shooting basketball.

Wesleyan, though, was happy to leave the pondering of aesthetics to others.

The Wolves defeated Whitefield 63-52 and collected their second state championship in three years. The big silver trophy, it turns out, is pretty enough.

“If we had played pretty basketball, we’d have been down 15 or 20 in the first half,” said Wesleyan coach Skip Matherly, again sporting his Tasmanian Devil tie for a state final. “The uglier it is to everyone else, the prettier it is to me.”

It also marked the second time in three years that the Norcross private school won both the boys and girls championships in the same season.

“That’s the hardest game I’ve ever played,” said Wesleyan’s Griffin Schamp, who scored nine points and took over ball-handling duties after Wes Caver fouled out with 5:06 left in the game. “You’ve got to fight through it. This is something special. It says a lot about our school and our program.”

Wesleyan’s Andrew Frerking scored 26 points, 18 in the second half, and did not miss a shot from the floor in the fourth quarter. Shane Smith added 11 for Wesleyan (26-6).

Tekele Cotton scored 18, Chris Lovelace 16 and Kennard Backman 11 for Whitefield (28-4), which was denied its bid for back-to-back championships.

“That team in white [Wesleyan], when they came out for the third quarter, they smelled it,” said Whitefield coach Tyrone Johnson.

“It’s no secret we were the more athletic team and better in transition, but they were quicker to the loose balls, and they beat us in transition. It’s all about who wanted it more. You can’t draw that up on a clipboard.”

In a game that featured 51 fouls called and 65 free throws attempted, the two teams combined for just one field goal in the first seven minutes, during which there were more fouls than points. Neither team led by more than three, and the early stages of the third period gave the impression that the physical, closely contested play would continue.

Whitefield’s Lovelace made a pair of free throws at the 5:30 mark in the third to tie the score at 27, but Wesleyan followed with a 12-1 run that was sparked by three baskets from Smith, and they took the lead for good.

Following a missed dunk by Backman with just over seven mintues left, Frerking made three 3-pointers in the next minute and a half, giving Wesleyan its biggest lead at 47-34.

“We knew if we could take care of the ball, we could get our rhythm on offense,” said Frerking. “Sometimes you’ve got to do something different and do what it takes to win the game.”

Whitefield, playing in its fourth state final in five years, twice pulled within six in the final five minutes, but no closer.

****

Whitefield Academy (52) — Lemons, Wingate, Coar 2, Backman 11, Washington 2, Lovelace 16, Gaines 3, Thornton, Cotton 18.

Wesleyan (63) — Caver 4, Ramsey, Schamp 9, Brantley 3, Frerking 26, Teague 7, Morris 3, Smith 11.

Halftime: Wesleyan, 24, Whitefield 23.