Clark Moreaux's buzzer-beating three gives St. Johns Christian SCISA 2A title

Left open in the corner, Moreaux converted his only three-point attempt of the contest.

SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA – What started as a joke in practice became reality during the biggest moment of St. Johns Christian’s basketball season.

The Cavaliers had the ball in a 52-52 tie game against Cathedral Academy with 13 seconds left on the clock.

With about three seconds to go the ball found its way to guard Clark Moreaux in the corner. He let it fly and watched it soar through the net to lift his team to the SCISA 2A boy’s state title, Saturday at the Sumter Center.

“I knew he was going to throw me the ball,” Moreaux said. “We've been joking around at practice about me making threes. So, I mean, it's just an easy shot.”

That three was Moreaux’s only three of the game. He finished with eight points overall.

Center Brock Ray, who stands 7-feet tall, led the Cavaliers in scoring with 18 points. He dominated the paint and the glass all game, forcing the Generals out of the paint.

“I play my role in the paint,” Ray said. “I let the guards handle the outside stuff.”

St. Johns Christian center Brock Ray led his team with 18 points / Photo by Jacob Phillips

Forward Shy'Juan Grant added 13 points for St Johns, all of which came in the second half.

It was a balanced scoring effort for Cathedral. Seven players scored and five had at least six points. Guard Carter Goodwin led the way with 13 points.

The two teams met twice in the regular season and split the series.

This game was a constant back-and-forth, consisting of four ties and 10 different lead changes.

“I mean, this is the cross-town rival for us, so we're used to them,” St. Johns Head Coach Drew Crowell said. “We're coming up for all the marbles and I knew it was going to be a dog fight.”

Cathedral led by four, 13-9, at the end of the game’s opening period.

The physicality picked up as the game went on and the refs were letting the teams play. Both teams had just two points three minutes into the second period.

The Cavaliers tied the game for the first time with one minute left in the half. They took the lead on the next possession.

Cathedral would tie the game in the half’s final seconds, but St. Johns had one final possession.

The Cavaliers missed its initial attempt at a last-second basket before the half. But Ray was positioned under the basket and grabbed the offensive rebound to give his team a two-point halftime advantage.

The third quarter was full of flip-flopping leads and ties. The teams traded buckets and the lead on back-to-back possessions multiple times in the quarter before St. Johns ultimately gained a two-possession lead in the period’s final minute.

It appeared the Cavaliers were going to build on their momentum from the end of the third and run away with the game in the fourth.

Cathedral had foul issues and put St. Johns in the bonus with five minutes remaining.

Midway through the period, the Cavilers held the game’s biggest lead at seven.

The Generals did not quit though and fought back into the game, cutting it back down to a single possession just a minute later.

St. Johns held a two-point lead in the final minute.

Cathedral’s Ajani Gresham drew a foul with 13 seconds left and the chance to tie. Grensham hit both free throws and it looked like the 2A state championship game was destined for overtime.

But on the next possession, Moreaux called game.

“Let's go celebrate,” he said. 

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips

Photo by Jacob Phillips