The DePaul Prep Rams rallied from ten points down late in the third quarter to defeat the the Perspectives Leadership Academy Warriors 50-46 in the 2A Super-sectional. The Rams will be going to the State Finals on Thursday for the second consecutive year and the third time in the last three finals.
What a game.
It started slow. Rams lead 7-4 at the end of the first quarter and it was only 17- 15 Rams ahead at the half.
That all changed in the third quarter. A 14-0 Perspectives run in the third put that Rams down 10, 26-36. Basically, the Warriors did what they are going at, they got some turnovers and rebounds and scored in transition.
It looked grim for the Rams.
But these young Rams showed a poise and determination that I wasn’t sure they had. Junior center Jaylan McElroy scored five straight points to close the third and open the fourth.
But it was the senior leadership of guard Maurice Thomas that rallied the Rams. Nine of Reece’s nighteen points came in the closing minutes including two free throws after a Warriors technical foul for calling a time out that they did not have. Thomas hit both from throws with the game tied at 46.
“I was just thinking about how the team needed the free throws. I was taking death breathes trying to stay call, just knock ‘em down,” Thomas told me after the game.
“We stuck together. We talked it through. We huddled. Through the runs they had, we stuck together and we ended up winning,” Thomas added.
Payton Kamin added two more in the closing seconds.
The Rams are going to State.
