VES creeps by Gaels

Mark Cook's calmness at the foul line allowed a VES team that showed up uninspired to escape the Holy Cross Holiday Classic with the championship trophy. The exit visa was a 78-72 victory over host Holy Cross Saturday night. Cook sank two free throws with 31 seconds left to extend the lead of Virginia Episcopal School (3-1) over Holy Cross (2-2), and the Bishops were able to hang on for the win. The 5-foot-10 junior guard led his team with 28 points, scoring on drives to the basket that upset the Gaels' intention to keep the ball out of the middle. "We came out pretty slow tonight," Cook said. "We were trying too hard not to lose."

VES coach Bob Leake said the Bishops may have expected as easy a night as Lynchburg Christian Academy had given them — LCA routed Timberlake Christian, 82-33, in the consolation game. "We saw (the earlier blowout) and thought it'd be a walkover," Leake said. "Those expectations were immediately dashed. (Holy Cross) were diving on the floor, going for loose balls while we were just going through the motions for two and a half quarters."

VES dealt with the Gaels' zone in the early going by shooting over it. Senior forward Matt O'Brien nailed seven of nine mid-range jumpers, several early to keep VES close. VES, which trailed 19-18 at the end of the first quarter, got 14 points from O'Brien, who was also voted the tournament's most valuable player. "He did a lot of things well," Leake said. "He's the emotional leader out there." A backdoor reception and layup by Cook gave VES its biggest first-half lead at 31-23. The Bishops led 37-34 at the half; Cook scored only 7 points in the first half. "I had a rough night last night," Cook said. "I figured I had to contribute more offensively tonight."

VES maintained its three-point lead, 56-53, on a left-handed layup by Cook to end the third quarter. Two free throws by Cook gave VES its biggest fourth-quarter lead, 75-65, with 1:36 remaining before Holy Cross' run. The Gaels' Kevin Brady finished with 30 points and teammate Matt Lesniak had 20, but both missed jumpers after a technical was called on VES sophomore center Chad Carter with 1:07 left and VES ahead 76-70. The Gaels, which also had a one-and-one opportunity in that sequence, missed at the line before Brady missed a jumper. "That could have been a big possession," Leake said of the play following Carter's vehement response to a foul call. "He (Carter) was claiming all night he was being pushed in the back." Holy Cross coach John Laneve blamed the Gaels' inefficiency from beyond the stripe for his team's misfortunes. "We didn't convert the threes," Laneve said. "We played a good ballgame but we ran out of gas at the end."

In the consolation game, LCA came out flat, trailing 14-13 to Timberlake after the first quarter, but turned up its defense to gain the blowout. LCA's zone and man-to-man defenses held the Tornadoes to a two-point second quarter, and the Gaels caught fire to take a 32-14 halftime lead as Gabe Lyons scored 9 of his 18 points in the period. Lyons finished the game with nine rebounds, six assists and five steals. "We came out flat (then) our guys realized we weren't playing with a lot of heat," LCA coach Richard Gifford said. "He (Lyons) played great tonight." LCA improved to 4-3; Timberlake fell to 1-6.

By Steve Heisler, Staff writer
The News & Advance