One of the most storied programs in the state’s rich basketball history and a team searching for its first championship trophy — the 3A title bout had it all on March 29 as South Bend St. Joseph edged out Crispus Attucks 56-52 to take home its first title ever.
“We’re changing the culture around St. Joseph high school,” sophomore guard Elijah King said. “This won’t be the last one.”
The Huskies showed off their impressive pace early, taking a higher volume of shots than their adversaries throughout the game. However, pace alone would not be enough to get them past the finish line.
As the teams battled back and forth in the first half, South Bend St. Joseph took a strong 30-24 lead into the lockers despite an impressive four-block half from Dezmon Briscoe — who finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
“Dez played 32 minutes and gave it [his] all,” Crispus Attucks head coach Chris Hawkins said. “He’s always been that type of player that will make the right play.”
With the game maturing through the second half, the Huskies found themselves in the lead for the entirety of the third quarter. Then, the Tigers started to find some momentum — outscoring South Bend St. Joseph 17-8 to claw themselves back into the game early in the fourth quarter. Relying heavily on the efforts of Briscoe to do so, despite a designed game-plan to limit Briscoe’s touches from the Huskies.
“We fronted him, and we pinned him,” St. Joseph head coach Eric Gaff said. “To the guys’ credit, I can have the best laid out plan but its on them to follow through. I thought they actually improved [the plan], changing it up by trapping sometimes and hedging. It’s hard to limit a player of that caliber and I thought we did a good job containing.”
Despite an impressive comeback effort, the Huskies’ remarkable guard play — led by sophomore Elijah King — would prevail down the stretch against the Tigers.
King finished the night with 16 points as junior Nick Shrewsberry matched with 16 points of his own.
While not the most efficient of nights from King — going 7-of-23 — the sophomore’s presence was felt all around the court.
“They were finding me all night,” King said. “I just never got down on myself, kept my confidence up and I knew they were going to fall eventually.”
As the guards for the Huskies helped the North semi-state champs out to a nine-point lead late in the game, the grit from the scrappy Tigers squad once again willed them back into the game with 90 seconds left to play.
With the score tied at 50 and the bowl around Gainbridge Fieldhouse filling in for the 4A game, senior Chase Konieczny soared high for an offensive rebound before slamming it in for the go-ahead bucket.
“During the game, I wasn’t really hitting [my shots],” Konieczny said. “So, most of mt work I was doing was going for the ball off the glass. I crashed every time, the opportunity came and I took it.”
Becoming the 14th team to win in their second consecutive appearance in the state title after losing the year before, it was made clear on the court and in the stands that the culture around St. Joseph has indeed been changed.
“It’s hard to get [fans] in gyms,” Gaff said. “Our school, our community, really bought into these guys. I think it goes to say what kind of guys and gentlemen these [players] are.”