Cedar Grove found itself in an bad situation on Friday. A second-period flurry by North Clayton had left the Saints trailing by 12 at the half and not looking anything like the No. 3-ranked team in Class AAA.
But after a bit of soul searching at halftime, Cedar Grove was able to completely erase the deficit in the third quarter and run away with a 70-62 win.
“We went up on the stage at halftime and decided we weren’t playing our best,” coach James Martin said. “We got our mojo back in the second half.”
The Saints (15-3) got back in the game by making five 3-pointers in the third quarter and took the lead on a basket by Jacara Cross at the buzzer. Before North Clayton (12-9) knew what hit them, Cedar Grove had pushed the lead to 10 points.
"Our defense kept play and kept us in the game," Martin said. "We hit some 3-pointers in the third quarter and then our bigs took over."
Cross finished with 21 points, including three slam dunks, with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Kenneth Lewis added 15 and Makale Carter added 13. The Saints were playing without floor leader Chris Fredrick, who was taking a football recruiting visit at Syracuse.
North Clayton got 13 points from Marquez Abernathy and 11 each from Taiyon Hector and Reginald Scurry.
The game was tied 19-19 in the second quarter when North Clayton started to pull away. The Eagles outscored the Saints 14-2 going into the break, with Abernathy knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and Hector going 4-for-4 at the line, two shots on a foul and the result of a technical.
The game was verging on a rout when Abernathy hit another trey and gave North Clayton a 38-23 lead. The Eagles had no idea what was about to hit them. The Saints, not known for their perimeter shooting, began knocked them down.
Lewis, then Carter, then Lewis again connected for 3s to cut the lead to four points. Jaquan Acie and Carter threw in two more. The Saints then tied the game on a three-point by Lewis and Cross gave them the lead on a layup at the buzzer. It was a 29-11 quarter and Cedar Grove refused to let up in the final period.
The game was another big one for Cross, who showed his dominance in the fourth quarter. Despite playing with three fouls, he was able to make his presence known.
Cross arrived Cedar Grove with a reputation as being the best incoming freshman in DeKalb County. He was courted by other schools in the area, but remained firm in his decision stay in his own community But the staff wasn’t convinced that Cross was everything that was advertised; he was overweight and soft on fundamentals. It was if he had been getting by on his size alone.
It took a season working with head coach James Martin and assistant Miguel Patrick to get the extra pounds off and the fundamentals installed. About midway through his sophomore season, he began to get serious about his basketball IQ.
“He treats basketball like a classroom,” Martin said. “If we’re teaching something in practice and he doesn’t understand, he’ll raise his hand and ask us to explain.”
There’s no excess weight on his 6-foot-6 frame. He’s considered one of the top defenders in the area and his wingspan gives him an advantage when it comes to blocking shots; he averages 2.9 per game. He’s also good for 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
The defense is stressed at Cedar Grove and Cross has definitely bought in. “Knowing how to play defense will help me when I get to the next level,” he said.
Cross can score, too. He’s averages 14.7 points, a number suppressed on a team that has three other players scoring in double figures. He’s now scored more than 20 points four times, including a 23-point effort against Jackson.
Some the offense comes from his leaping ability and his ability to explode toward the basket. He understands the need to improve his perimeter game, if he wants to play at the next level. He would like to play at Miami, which is one of the schools currently recruiting him.
In other games played on Friday night:
Jenkins 62, Johnson Savannah 48: Malik Benlevi, sidelined with a knee injury since Dec. 29, scored 11 points to lead the No. 2 Warriors (16-3). Rajah Bush scored 15 points to lead No. 5 Johnson (16-4).
Girls
Dawson County 55, Banks County 40: No. 1-ranked Dawson County (21-0) got 15 points and nine rebounds from Sheyenne Seabolt and 13 points and 13 rebounds from Ashley Parker.
Johnson Savannah 69, Jenkins 28: Oklahoma commitment Tjeoma Odimgbe had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks to pace Johnson (13-5). The Atom Smashers scored the first 21 points of the game.
Beach 57, Savannah 38: Jacqueline Anderson scored 27 points to help the No. 5 Bulldogs improve to 15-5.
South Atlanta 45, Jackson 33: Erica Gibbons scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds to push fourth-ranked South Atlanta (20-0, 6-0 in Region 4-AAA) past Jackson. For South Atlanta, Kierra Graham had 11 points and eight rebounds and Lawrencia Simon had nine points and three rebounds. South Atlanta went on a 24-14 run in the second half to pull away from Jackson (14-5, 6-2).
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