INDIANAPOLIS – Crispus Attucks coach Chris Hawkins calls them "winning plays."
The type of plays that shift momentum, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
In the final minute of Saturday's IHSAA Class 3A state championship game, South Bend St. Joseph forward Chase Konieczny elevated over Attucks star center Dezmon Briscoe for a go-ahead put-back dunk. The play put the Huskies ahead for good, providing the winning play they needed to stave off a late-charging Attucks side and pull out a 56-52 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The win clinched South Bend St. Joseph's first boys basketball state title. The Huskies lost to Scottsburg in the state final last season.
"Chase is able to get a running start from the wing and is able to get that tip dunk," Hawkins said. "You just got to put a body on him. We talked about it, but it just didn't happen. We made mistakes, but the kids played so hard today.
"We're not going to fuss over that. At the end of the day, players have to win the game. (Konieczny) went out and made a winning play, and we didn't."
St. Joseph does not have a player taller than 6-4 on its roster. The Huskies used 6-3 Konieczny, 6-1 Brashaun Woods and 6-2 Elijah King to front the 6-9 Briscoe and place another player behind him to bracket the Tigers' big man in the post, taking away the entry pass and giving him little room to operate.
Briscoe finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting, but the Huskies' ability to limit his touches kept the three-star recruit's scoring down. Briscoe, maybe to his detriment, never forced the action down low. He processes the game at a high level, sensing when a double team is coming and always making the right pass to his teammates.
When the Tigers needed him the most, Briscoe did his best to keep them in the game. He scored nine of the team's 11 points from the end of the third quarter to early in the fourth. His two free throws cut Attucks' deficit to two with 6:24 left in the game. St. Joe responded with a 7-0 run, but the Tigers did not stop fighting.
Chris Hurt scored four points in four seconds, ...
