Red-hot Saints outlast Cougars

Since losing to Blue Ridge in December, the St. Anne’s-Belfield boys basketball team has reeled off 12 straight wins, but getting to 13 was almost more than the Saints could handle.

Hosting Collegiate, the 5th-ranked Division I team in the state, STAB managed to come back from a nine-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter and survive the first overtime before eventually winning 81-76 in two extra periods.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” said Saints coach Brian Kent. “I told just about everyone in the community that I could talk to that this was going to be a great game and it lived up to the expectations. Both teams diving on the floor. It was all heart.”

Brett Goodloe provided plenty of fireworks in the fourth quarter for a capacity crowd. Just as the Cougars appeared to be wrapping up the win, the senior caught fire in the final two minutes, hitting a pair of 3-pointers before sinking the game-tying shot with 2.9 seconds.

“My shooting has been off lately,” Goodloe said. “But my coaches have been stressing for me to just trust in myself.”

Goodloe struggled for the first three quarters with both his inside and outside shooting, but when it mattered most, he found his stroke.

“I remember watching a [Davidson] game where Stephen Curry missed his first 14 shots and his teammates were still telling him to shoot,” Kent said. “Our team was telling Brett to shoot. ‘You’re our man. You’ve got to take the game in your hand.’ He had the confidence of his teammates.”

Even though big men Quincey September and Mark Terrell had both fouled out, the St. Anne’s offense remained hot throughout both overtimes.

In the second overtime STAB (13-1, 5-0 Prep League) stepped up defensively, collecting every loose ball and forcing a pair of Collegiate turnovers, outscoring the Cougars by a 2-to-1 margin in the final frame.

It was a wild way to come back from a rocky start as the Cougars (10-4, 4-1) jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter.

In the first half the Saints struggled mightily to defend forward Jake McGee and guard Patrick Corrigan. Of Collegiate’s 33 first half points, 31 were scored by McGee and Corrigan.

“It was unreal,” Goodloe said. “Credit to Corrigan. I’ve never seen him shoot the ball that well. He was on fire. McGee, he’s always been the guy we have to focus on.”

The two would go on to score 23 and 37 points, respectively.

Down by nine at the half, the Saints came out and cut the lead down to three points only to watch it balloon back up to nine by the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter the St. Anne’s defense forced five Cougar turnovers, and with the shots finally falling, were able to score 25 fourth quarter points while Collegiate put up 16.

“We knew that if we kept our focus and our intensity on defense we could comeback,” Goodloe said.

Four players finished in double digits for STAB including Goodloe (25), Alex Asher (18), Bryan Lynch (15) and Terrell (11).

Asher also collected 11 rebounds and blocked five shots. Lynch and Goodloe combined for seven steals.

St. Anne’s travels to Walsingham Academy today at 3:30 p.m.