When Mikko Koivisto arrived at Holy Cross from Finland last year, he was more of a pure finesse-type shooter, who thrived from 3-point range.

His game has gotten much more physical since then, as he showed in Tuesday's Virginia Independent Schools Division III state quarterfinal game against visiting Timberlake Christian School.

The senior wing sank four 3-pointers, but he also hit the floor at least four times on aggressive drives to the basket. He made all four of his free throws after drawing fouls and led the Gaels with 22 points in a fiercely competitive 63-58 victory over the Tornadoes.

“That's one thing I've improved on, going to the basket,” Koivisto said. “That's what I need to do more of. I can't stay behind the 3-point line. I've got to try to penetrate, get to the basket and take the hit and get to the foul line.”

Sophomore Cordaro Ferguson added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Holy Cross (16-8), tipping in three teammates' misses in the final 10 minutes of play, each time extending the Gaels' advantage to three points.

TCS, which only got three offensive rebounds for the game, was making just its second VIS state tournament appearance in school history. It got 26 points, including four 3-pointers, from Colby Heckman and 22 from Jon Morgan, the area's leading scorer averaging 22.7 points per game.

“We were hoping to be the first ever (Timberlake team) to get to the Final Four and we were about as close as you can get,” Tornadoes second-year coach Jason Spear said. “They left everything on the court and gave it all they had.”

It was the third competitive contest between the two schools this season. The last time they met, at Holy Cross, the Gaels trailed until midway through the fourth quarter before pulling out a 55-53 win.

“I was not excited about the matchup when I heard we would be playing Timberlake in the first round, simply because this was the third time we've faced them this season and it's always a dogfight,” said Holy Cross coach Roy Roberson, who led the Gaels to the Division III state title in his first season last year. “It was a great high school game and we're fortunate to be moving on.”

The Tornadoes, who only use five players, opened the scoring on a steal and full-court layup by Morgan. They took their first lead of the second half, 44-42 late in the third quarter, on a three-point play by Morgan, who finished a fast break with a layup despite being fouled.

Then, in the final minute of the fourth, they had two chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn't convert. Trailing 59-58, Chris Newsome, the Tornadoes' tallest player at 6-foot-3, took a pass left of the lane and had an apparent mismatch with the 5-3 Rionn Pradia the only one between him and the basket. But, as he drove to the basket, the Gaels' defense rotated and Newsome fell hard to the floor on his driving miss.

After Gaels point guard Robby Carrington was fouled and hit both free throws (he was 7-for-7 on the night), Heckman passed up a 3-pointer under close coverage from Koivisto and couldn't get his layup to fall. Carrington grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled again, sinking both free throws for the final score.

“Colby, his last two games of his career, he scored 25 and 26 points and that was his career high tonight,” Spear said. “He gave me everything I could have asked for. I certainly wanted him to shoot the 3 if he had it. He felt like the guy was on him too closely. Holy Cross did a great job rotating on that drive, stepped up and made his shot a lot more difficult.”

“I didn't think that we defended well, but when our back was against the wall, we were able to come up with the stop we needed,” Roberson added.

Despite using no substitutions, the Tornadoes played with a little more intensity on defense, passion in going after loose balls and fast-break layups.

“I think, pound for pound, Jason Spear does an incredible job with those kids,” Roberson said. “Their kids play hard.”

“They're used to playing for 32 minutes,” Spear added. “We aren't typically very deep at Timberlake and we have I think the most talented five we've ever had. They showed tonight when they hung with the No. 2 team in the state for the duration of the game.”

“They've improved a lot from last year,” Koivisto added. “They are competitive with every team in the (Virginia Independent Conference). After we almost got beat by them here the last time, we knew they are a good team, there's no doubt about that.”

Holy Cross advances to the VIS state Final Four and will meet Tidewater Academy, a 48-43 winner over Stonebridge Christian, Friday at 8:45 p.m. at Richard Bland College in Petersburg.

“They have a very good post player, a 6-8 kid,” Roberson said. “We played them two years ago in the state quarterfinals and beat them in a close game. We'll have our hands full.”

By Ted Allen, Staff Writer
The News & Advance