Standing outside his team's locker room after Wednesday night's 64-62 overtime victory against West Forsyth in the title game of the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic's Pepsi-Journal Bracket, coach Jack McHale of Forsyth Country Day was still trying to absorb what had happened.
"My wife and two daughters were waiting for me and had to remind me to smile," McHale said. "I looked at them and said, 'Yeah, I guess I can now.' "
He had plenty to smile about.
Top-seeded FCD won its first Spencer title and became the first private-schools champion in the tournament's 37-year history.
Sophomore Colton Bishop led FCD with a game-high 20 points, including 15 on 3-pointers.
Tournament MVP Jack Young added 15 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds, and Andy Bell had 11 points.
FCD (15-3) also won despite playing in the tournament without leading scorer Kevin Reinemund, who as a fifth-year high-school player was not eligible under Spencer Classic rules.
"I think that says a lot about our team and how we can respond to adverse situations," said McHale, who is in his first season as FCD's varsity coach. "We knew Kevin couldn't play, so we've been preparing for this.
"These guys can take a lot from this. I couldn't be any more proud of them."
FCD watched a seven-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter as West kept chipping away.
Carl Tyson of West tied the score at 56 with a layup with 48 seconds left, and after FCD missed on its next possession, West got the ball back with a chance to take the final shot in regulation.
Teion Waller drove into the lane with the clock winding down, but his 10-footer bounced off the side of the rim, sending the game to overtime.
Young scored four points in the extra session, including a pull-up jump shot with 2:16 left for a 61-58 lead.
West responded by scoring the next four points — a steal and layup by Waller and a short jump shot by Trae Bailey with 51 seconds left gave the Titans a 62-61 lead.
Bell followed with a driving layup over the outstretched arms of Alex McCalister with 34 seconds left, giving the Furies a 63-62 lead.
After a timeout, John Massengill missed a 3-point shot from the right corner, and FCD's Thor Emilsson grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made one of two free throws for a 64-62 lead, leaving West Forsyth one last chance.
Waller drove along the baseline and was looking for McCalister coming toward the basket, but Young intercepted the pass as time ran out.
"We had a couple of shots to win it, we just couldn't get them to go," coach Mike Pennington of West Forsyth said. "We knew we were in good shape when we got the lead in overtime, because they aren't the type of team that was going to go out and pressure us. I thought we had momentum going into overtime, but we couldn't get the ball to bounce our way the last couple of times."
McCalister led West with 19 points and 18 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team. Carl Tyson also scored 18, and Waller added 14. Bishop, Massengill, and Bell also were all-tournament, along with Quan Mims of McMichael.
FCD led 32-26 at halftime with the help of eight 3-pointers, and it scored 15 of its 17 first-quarter points from behind the arc.
"We knew they were an unusual team in that they had a bunch of guys that could make 3s," Pennington said. "I thought we were a little late making the necessary adjustments to slow them down. Once we settled in, we were fine. We just came up a little bit short."
West
16
10
12
18
6
—
62
FCD
17
15
11
13
8
—
64
West Forsyth (5-8): Tyson 18; McCalister 18; Waller 14, Bailey 8, Massengill 2, Black 2, Gould, Miller, Buckner
FCD (15-3): Bishop 20, Young 15, Bell 11, Emilsson 7, LaRue 5, Reyes 4, Steppe 2, Hayes
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