Hazelwood Central Rallies to Reclaim Coaches vs. Cancer Championship

Yuri Collins thought he tied the game. 

Then Cameron Williams showed up. 

The star junior point guard for the St. Mary's basketball team, Collins had just stolen the ball at the mid-court line and was racing in for the game-tying layup. He let the ball go only to see Williams, a senior swingman for Hazelwood Central, fly through the air and blast the ball off the backboard with just more than a minute left to play. 

But Williams was just getting started. In the scrum to recover the loose ball, Williams poked it away, chased it down and went in all alone the other way for a highlight-reel slam. 

Hazelwood Central rallied back from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to beat St. Mary's 67-61 on Saturday in the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Tournament on the campus of St. Louis Community College - Meramec.

The No. 3 large school in the STLhighschoolsports.com rankings and No. 2 seed, Central (13-1) avenged last season's semifinal loss to top seed and defending tournament champion St. Mary's. It's the fifth time the Hawks have won at Meramec since 2003.

“I've got some tough kids that never give up,” Central coach Brandon Gilmore said. “They kept battling.”

Senior post Xavier Ball cemented the Hawks rally in the fourth quarter. He buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to put Central ahead 59-56 with 2 minutes and 26 seconds to play in the game. The 6-foot-7 Ball finished with a game-high 24 points and grabbed five rebounds.

“We stayed together. Our coach let us know that we're still in the game and we've got it,” Ball said. “He said, 'Don't let each other down, don't get down on yourself and stay with it.'”

Senior shooting guard Shaun Williams showed his all-around game as he scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out four assists and did well defending Collins in the fourth quarter.

Cameron Williams had nine points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks, none of which meant more than his jaw-dropper in the final minute.

“I was just trying to get back on defense so they wouldn't get any easy layup and my dad always tells me to play hard and good things will happen,” Cameron Williams said.

The No. 1 small school, St. Mary's (12-1) won its semifinal on Friday with Collins and senior guard Tony Burks sidelined by injury in the fourth quarter. Collins was limited by a shoulder injury and Burks by a busted lip that required stitches. Both started on Saturday and appeared fine.

Collins scored 20 points and had four assists and three steals. Burks netted 11 points and had three rebounds. He buried a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter that pushed the Dragons ahead 53-44.

But St. Mary's depth could not sustain its electric pace of play over the course of four games in four days. Senior forward Miles Jones battled foul trouble all night until he picked up his fifth and final foul with 4:08 left in the fourth quarter. He had six points and three rebounds in limited action.

“He's a great free-throw shooter, he can stretch the defense and a lot of times we have guys buried in the corners and let Yuri just penetrate and kick and it keeps the defense honest,” St. Mary's coach Bryan Turner said. "We have to be able to finish the game out." 

Burks had 11 points and three rebounds. Senior guard Dominic Mitchell hit four 3-pointers as he scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds, handed out three assists to go with two steals and two blocks. Senior post Yahuza Rasas had four points and six rebounds. He had three blocks including an incredible one-on-one denial of Ball's dunk attempt to end the third quarter.

“It was the game I expected,” Turner said. “It was a dog fight. It was a great atmosphere.”

St. Mary's led 30-29 at halftime. The Dragons were hitting on all cylinders in the third quarter. Collins attacked with abandon, Mitchell and senior guard Lavell Harris each buried 3-pointers.

But the Hawks stiffened defensively and went to work on the glass. They chipped away as Ball, Shaun Williams and Cameron Williams put the ball in the basket.

“We've been through a lot of adversity this year so we know there's going to be ups and downs in basketball games,” Cameron Williams said. “When it goes up you can't get too high and when it goes down you can't too down. We continued to play hard and came out with the 'W.” - by David Kvidahl of the St. Louis Post Dispatch