Sam Cremeans, Colten Luther lead Williamstown past St. Marys 61-52
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ST. MARYS -- Rivalry games in basketball are sometimes packed with intensity and passion that brings the end of the contest down to the wire.
This Monday night's Little Kanawha Conference clash between St. Marys and Williamstown was no different.
It took a fourth quarter of big shots, but Williamstown got the win, 61-52.
Sam Cremeans lifted the visiting 'Jackets with a team-high 23 points, in what was also his biggest output in a WHS uniform. After being held scoreless in the first quarter, Cremeans started to get going in the following frame. As the Blue Devils (2-2) jumped out to a 32-25 halftime lead due to a Peyton Auxier buzzer-beating 3-ball, Cremeans ended up being the answer for the undefeated Yellowjackets.
After Colten Luther hit the first shot of the second half, Cremeans contributed to the 14-7 third quarter run with eight of those Williamstown points in a row, as he was assisted on two of those buckets by Garret Hill and Luther. That spurt by the Yellowjackets tied the game up at 39.
With about seven minutes to go, WHS needed a response after William Steele buried one of his three triples to give the upstart Blue Devils a 42-41 lead.
That's where the duo of Luther and Cremeans came in handy.
On the following possession, Cremeans buried a hoop with the harm to give his team the lead, but he missed the free-throw. That's when Luther (12 points) muscled his way to the hoop to collect the pivotal offensive rebound. The ball found its way into the hands of Cremeans, who drove inside to hit an and-1 layup with 6:28 remaining. This time, he didn't miss.
The Blue Devils only mustered a few more field goals, as Xavier Caruthers scored two of his nine total points to answer a pair of Steele free-throws on the previous possession to make it 48-44. From there, the Yellowjackets had to knock down shots from the charity stripe to stay ahead. Made freebies by Creameans, Caruthers, Luther and Hill finished off St. Marys.
Of his performance, Cremeans said it took a team effort to accomplish a total and a win like this.
"It's not really about me, it's about the team," Cremeans said after his 15-point second half. "It was a great team effort. Friday, we put it all out on the court against Magnolia, too. We started to do a better job of defending the perimeter in the second half, and we just had to keep defending."
Williamstown (4-0) turns its attention to a road contest in Wirt County next Monday, as head coach Scott Sauro talked about what it took to get this win.
"You've got to give St. Marys a lot of credit. They came out and shot the ball really well. They shot a lot of 3s at a high percentage in the first half, and that's why we had man-to-man in our back pocket," Sauro said of the adjustment made at halftime. "The fact we were able to contest them better in the man was what made the difference."
On the other side of things, the Blue Devils held strong with their LKC foe, and head coach Mark Barnhart applauded his team's tenacity. Now, they hit the road on Friday for an LKC West test against Mick Price's Ravenswood Red Devils.
"Well, the biggest thing for us in the first half is that we came to play. We didn't play like a team where every position was a mismatch. We were just the same size they were," Barnhart said. "I liked the extra hustle. It seemed like we were jumping, flying around and trying to make plays. Our practices have been getting better, and they're starting to pay off during games. We were able to play with a team significantly bigger than us, and through three quarters, I believe it was 39-all. With what they (Williamstown) bring to the table, I thought they wore us down with their length."
Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com