DIAMOND, Mo. — On Saturday morning, Kip Atteberry traveled to Columbia for an all-state orchestra audition.
On Saturday night, Atteberry made the game-winning free throws to lift the Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers to a thrilling 56-54 victory over Lighthouse Christian in the championship game of the Gem City Classic at Diamond High School.
The back-and-forth clash was deadlocked at 54 with 10 seconds left when Atteberry connected on two clutch free throws—his lone points of the night.
“You live for moments like that,” Atteberry said. “I was pretty excited and pretty scared at the same time. I’ve been up since really early this morning, so I was pretty tired. I don’t know, maybe that helped.”
Atteberry, a junior guard, was admittedly a little worn out by the time Saturday night arrived.
After he auditioned for a spot on the Missouri All-State Orchestra at the University of Missouri early in the day, Atteberry made the long trip home just in time to join the Cavaliers ahead of their short drive to Diamond.
“I got back about 30 minutes before the game,” Atteberry said.
But if Atteberry was worn out, it didn’t show when he stepped to the charity stripe with the game on the line.
“Kip had a heck of a day,” Cavaliers coach Chris Myers said. “He had his audition and then a four-hour drive back here before the game. And then he comes in off the bench and hits two big ones for us.”
The Cavaliers, who improved to 5-0 with the win, overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
“We knew it was going to be a good, competitive game,” Coach Myers said. “We were evenly matched for the most part. Things weren’t going our way. Our big man was in foul trouble, which hurt us and got us out of our rhythm. But for the second game in a row, our kids showed their tenacity. They stuck with it and battled all the way until the end.”
It was Thomas Jefferson’s second straight thriller, as the Cavs won 48-46 two nights earlier on Caden Myers’ late layup.
Saturday’s tourney finale was close all the way.
The Chargers were up 16-15 at the end of the first quarter and they were up 27-25 at halftime.
TJ’s Jay Ball had to go to the bench during the third quarter after picking up his third foul, but a trey from Drew Goodhope and a midrange jumper by Tyler Brouhard gave the Cavaliers a 39-38 lead.
Lighthouse Christian’s Carter Marciniak and Cade Bethea both drilled 3-pointers at the end of the frame, giving the Chargers a 44-39 advantage.
Lighthouse Christian took a 48-41 lead with 6:25 to play, but the Cavaliers responded with seven straight points to tie it up.
The Chargers led by five with two minutes to play, but Thomas Jefferson received back-to-back hoops in the paint from the 6-foot-6 Ball with just over a minute to play.
Lighthouse Christian had the ball and a one-point lead with 38 seconds to play when the Cavaliers committed a foul.
Bethea made 1-of-2 at the line for a 54-52 cushion
Thomas Jefferson’s Brouhard, who had what could be called a breakout performance, scored a game-tying bucket with 25 seconds on the clock.
After a TJ foul, the Chargers not only missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds to play, but also fouled Atteberry after the miss.
That’s when Atteberry, the school’s cross country and track standout, calmly sank both shots at the line that ended up the difference.
Down two, the Chargers never got up a shot before time expired.
A 6-1 junior, Brouhard scored 22 points to lead the Cavaliers.
“Tyler had a great game,” Coach Myers said. “Like we talked about in the preseason, Tyler has a lot of upside and potential…he can sneak up on some guys. But if he keeps playing like this, he won’t be sneaking up on too many people.”
Ball added 14 points, while Caden Myers had 10 and Goodhope contributed eight.
Marciniak scored 25 points for the Chargers, while Bethea added 18.
Thomas Jefferson returns to Diamond on Monday to take on the Wildcats.
Note: In the tourney’s third-place game, Diamond defeated Wheaton 56-54.
