Friday night’s back and forth matchup in the boys 34th District basketball championship came down to one final play made by Lloyd Memorial senior Isaiah Sebastian.
With 15 seconds left in overtime, Sebastian drove the ball cool, calm and collected before sinking a floater to lead the Juggernauts to a 37-35 win over Dixie Heights.
Lloyd, now back to back 34th District Champions, faced their fair share of ups-and-downs throughout the game.
A packed gym at Villa Madonna and a rowdy Colonel student section helped raise the intensity early as Dixie senior Hudson Blank had eight of the Colonels 10 first quarter points. On the other end, Lloyd juniors EJ Walker and Carter Bresser each had five to tie it up.
Dixie packed their defense inside the paint and made it clear they weren’t going to give the Juggernauts anything easy inside.
“That’s their defense, they really pack it in,” said Lloyd head coach Michael Walker. “You know everyone tries to take EJ (Walker) away but we’re going to live with our guards.”
Defensively, Lloyd relied on their guards to contain and deny Dixie’s top scorers in Blank and junior Griffin Derry who each average over 15 points a game.
The back-and-forth action continued and the match was tied at 19, however, the Juggernauts found themselves in a bit of trouble when Sebastian picked up his second foul and was forced to sit the rest of the half.
As halftime approached, Lloyd struggled to convert offensively while Dixie capped off a 5-0 run on a backdoor cut by junior Max Rubemeyer, who finished the layup as the final seconds ticked away to give the Colonels a 24-19 lead at the half.
For Dixie, it seemed their scouting report had been followed to a tee after dropping the previous matchup to the Juggernauts by 13. For Lloyd, halftime proved to be a much needed reset after the scoreless stretch.
“In the locker room we were told to stick to the game plan,” said EJ Walker, who had seven of his 12 points in the first half. “They wanted us to shoot the jump shots we took, we needed to start breaking into the basket.”
The halftime speech seemed to resonate within the team as they came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. Sebastian was active out of the gate with six straight points.
“We came out of the half on a run and from there it was really just us playing basketball as a team,” says Sebastian.
Six points turned into 12 unanswered thanks to a triple from junior Elijah Collins that helped Lloyd regain the lead at 31-24. After six minutes, Dixie finally broke into the second half stat sheet as Derry sank a much needed three-pointer to keep the Colonels within striking distance.
Lloyd maintained a three-point lead heading into the final quarter, but the game was far from finished.
While fans expected a fast paced quarter, both teams had different plans. With the ball in Lloyd’s hands up three, Walker and his team remained content. Juggernaut sophomore Anthony Blaackar dribbled the ball just past half court and stayed there… for about three minutes.
Dixie head coach Chad Fields remained steady in his decision as his defense sat comfortably in the paint waiting for Lloyd to make their move. Eventually, Lloyd came up short which put the ball back in the Colonel’s hands.
A drive from Derry earned Dixie a basket and more as he was sent to the line for a three- point opportunity. The game was tied yet again at 33.
Lloyd came up empty on their final drive which meant overtime was imminent.
The mind games carried over into extra time as the stall continued. This time however, Dixie sent Sebastian to the line with less than a minute to play.
The lead lasted just seconds as Rubemeyer sank two free throws on the other end to tie the game up at 35 with 25 seconds left.
With the crowd all on their feet, Lloyd ran their motion offense as the seconds wound down and the rest was history.
“This is what March is all about,” says Walker. “I’m very proud.”
For the Colonels, Derry led the way with 16 while Blank was held scoreless after his seven first quarter points. Both were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Juggernauts were led by Sebastian’s 10 and Walker’s 12 point performances. Blaackar and Collins were named to the All Tournament Team while Walker took home MVP.
Both teams will now turn their attention to Monday as the 9th Region Tournament kicks off at Truist Arena. The Juggernauts will face either Ryle, Beechwood or Highlands in the first round while the Colonels are looking at a potential matchup with Cooper, Covington Catholic or Newport.