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Late heroics finally go against Santa Fe in sectional loss





Santa Fe's Andy Slaughter takes a hard foul from West Carroll's Jalen Anglin during the second half of Monday's Class 1A sectional matchup.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Andy Slaughter takes a hard foul from West Carroll’s Jalen Anglin during the second half of Monday’s Class 1A sectional matchup.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Unfortunately for Santa Fe, the third time was one time too many.

After last-second shots accounted for their last two wins, the Wildcats were victimized by a buzzer-beater Monday night – dropping a 54-52 decision to visiting West Carroll in a packed Wayne Walters Gymnasium to end their season in their first-ever homecourt state sectional appearance.

“I trust the referees,” Santa Fe coach Brad Slaughter said after junior post Josh Clark gathered a miss by teammate Xander Moon and got it back up before time expired. The shot went through for the gamewinner, just seconds after freshman guard Auden Slaughter forced a deadlock with his 3-pointer from the top of the key.

“It didn’t come down to that one shot. We’ve been in three like that, three games in a row. It could have gone the other way against Fayetteville, it could have gone the other way against Richland. It just didn’t turn out our way (Monday).”

The game was befitting of the turnout. In a gym that seats 1,000, there were at least that many in attendance – a good portion of those being War Eagle fans, but also Santa Fe supporters from across Maury County, turning out to support a history-making squad that finished the year 25-6, but came up a game short of the Class 1A state tournament berth it was eyeing.

Santa Fe freshman Macon Adkison forces West Carroll's Jalen Anglin into a 10-second backcourt violation during the second half of Monday's Class 1A sectional matchup.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe freshman Macon Adkison forces West Carroll’s Jalen Anglin into a 10-second backcourt violation during the second half of Monday’s Class 1A sectional matchup.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

“I don’t have any disappointment. We made history,” senior guard Andy Slaughter said. “We got the whole community behind us. There’s no disappointment.

“I think we played a heck of a game, and I think they played a heck of a game, too. It was a dogfight the whole time.”

The Wildcats set the tone early, with Andy and Auden each scoring five straight points to start the contest – Andy with a layup three seconds into the game, a drive and a free throw, Auden with a floater in the paint and a deep 3-pointer from the right wing.

West Carroll (22-4), which had won 12 straight before falling to McKenzie in the Region 6-1A tournament championship game, countered with its ace, Jalen Anglin – getting 12 first-quarter points from the senior guard, the last of which rallied the War Eagles from an early 13-7 deficit to tie the game at 18-all.

Santa Fe's Auden Slaughter drives past West Carroll's JaQuan Adkins during Monday's Class 1A sectional contest.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Auden Slaughter drives past West Carroll’s JaQuan Adkins during Monday’s Class 1A sectional contest.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

“He’s a gamechanger,” West Carroll coach Ryan Mansfield said. “He’s able to make his own space, his own opportunities.

“They were doubling him. We told him to go to the weak side of it, and he went at it.”

Moon gave the visitors a spark with a 3 – their only one of the night – to open the second period, then extended a lead with a eurostep to the rim as part of a 6-0 spurt before Andy knocked in a jumper to make it a 33-28 game at intermission.

Trailing 39-30 midway through the third quarter, Santa Fe went on an 11-1 run keyed by nine straight points from Andy Slaughter, but West Carroll retook the lead at 42-41 on an Anglin baseline drive and closed the period with the one-point advantage.

The lead seesawed early in the fourth, before Moon stretched it to 52-49 with a pair of foul shots at the 36.5-second mark. Santa Fe ran the clock down to eight seconds before Slaughter’s game-tying bucket, leaving West Carroll with just enough time to go the length of the floor and get off two shots, the second of which fell.

Tickets for Santa Fe’s Class 1A sectional game against visiting West Carroll sold out in 18 hours, resulting in a packed house for the Monday event at the Wayne Walters Gymnasium.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Tickets for Santa Fe’s Class 1A sectional game against visiting West Carroll sold out in 18 hours, resulting in a packed house for the Monday event at the Wayne Walters Gymnasium.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

“I thought we were going to overtime,” Auden Slaughter said. “It’s pretty disappointing. The only thing we can keep our heads up about is the region championship.”

Anglin scored a game-high 24 points and Clark added 13 for the War Eagles.

“(Anglin), we knew coming in – he was one of the best high school players I’ve ever seen,” Brad Slaughter said. “He certainly was (Monday). We couldn’t double ‘35’ (Clark) because we were sending two or three at ‘3’. They showed up.”

Andy Slaughter scored 22 points – making him Santa Fe’s all-time leading scorer with 1,591 points, as he surpassed 2003 graduate Joseph Carter, who scored 1,586 points.

“It means a lot,” Andy said of the school record. “It’s hard to mean a lot in this situation. Auden Slaughter's 3-pointer to tie the game for Santa Fe wasn't enough Monday, as Josh Clark scored off an offensive rebound to beat the buzzer and give visiting West Carroll a 54-52 Class 1A sectional win.BY MAURICE PATTONMain Street Maury

“To be real, Auden’s going to break it in a few years.”

Auden Slaughter and Macon Adkison scored 13 points each, putting Auden at 795 over his eighth-grade and freshman seasons.

Brad Slaughter refused to let the season-ending loss dampen his team’s body of work over the entirety of its campaign.

“We’re region champs, the first in school history,” he said. “We’re going to be proud of that. We wanted more, and we were clear about that, but we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Raiders come up short: Richland, which lost to Santa Fe in the Region 5-1A finals, also saw its season come to an end Monday as host McKenzie advanced to the state quarterfinals with a 58-50 sectional victory. The Raiders got a game-high 18 points from Trey Luna and 11 from Jace Derryberry in the loss.

West Carroll 54, Santa Fe 52

Santa Fe’s student section helped energize the Wildcats during Monday’s Class 1A sectional matchup with visiting West Carroll. “The crowd kept us going,” coach Brad Slaughter said.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s student section helped energize the Wildcats during Monday’s Class 1A sectional matchup with visiting West Carroll. “The crowd kept us going,” coach Brad Slaughter said.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

WC 18 15 9 12 – 54

SF 18 10 13 11 – 52

West Carroll (54) – JaQuan Adkins 6, Jalen Anglin 24, Andrew Huff 4, Xander Moon 7, Josh Clark 13

Santa Fe (52) – Macon Adkison 13, Auden Slaughter 13, Colton Steward 2, Andy Slaughter 22, Landon Evans 2

3-pointers – West Carroll 1 (Moon), Santa Fe 4 (Adkison, Au. Slaughter 2, An. Slaughter)

McKenzie 58, Richland 50

R 8 13 12 17 – 50

M 15 16 11 16 – 58

Richland (50) – Tyrell Randolph 2, Jace Derryberry 11, Carter Edwards 9, Gage Kirk 2, Trey Luna 18, Luke Jones 6, Andrew Huff 2

McKenzie (58) – Bryson Steele 8, Marquez Taylor 12, Tate Surber 9, Zayden McCaslin 9, Stafford Roditis 12, Zay Webber 4, Zach Aird 4

3-pointers – Richland 2 (Derryberry, Edwards), McKenzie 5 (Taylor, Surber 2, Roditis 2)

Brad Slaughter gets his Santa Fe team’s attention during a timeout in Monday’s Class 1A sectional contest against visiting West Carroll.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Brad Slaughter gets his Santa Fe team’s attention during a timeout in Monday’s Class 1A sectional contest against visiting West Carroll.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Andy Slaughter splits West Carroll defenders JaQuan Adkins (left) and Josh Clark during Monday's Class 1A sectional.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Andy Slaughter splits West Carroll defenders JaQuan Adkins (left) and Josh Clark during Monday’s Class 1A sectional.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Landon Evans twists to get off a shot over West Carroll’s Xander Moon during Monday’s Class 1A sectional matchup.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Landon Evans twists to get off a shot over West Carroll’s Xander Moon during Monday’s Class 1A sectional matchup.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Andy Slaughter challenges West Carroll’s Josh Clark during Monday’s Class 1A sectional contest.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Andy Slaughter challenges West Carroll’s Josh Clark during Monday’s Class 1A sectional contest.DEBORAH BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe's Andy Slaughter drives past West Carroll's JaQuan Adkins for two of his team-high 22 points in Monday's Class 1A sectional contest.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Santa Fe’s Andy Slaughter drives past West Carroll’s JaQuan Adkins for two of his team-high 22 points in Monday’s Class 1A sectional contest.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

 

 

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