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Sports

McCluer North Survives Tough District Championship Against McCluer

The Stars hold on to win 58-54 and start their quest to a second consecutive championship.

boys basketball coach Randy Reed held his hands over his head and looked upward. He had just watched his Stars hang on to defeat 58-54 in the Class 5 District 8 championship Saturday.

While his players and assistant coaches were gathered in a circle near mid-court celebrating, Reed congratulated and consoled Comets coach Erwin Claggett. The losing coach was obviously down, but Reed did his best to offer him words of encouragement.

"This game was bigger than Chaminade, this was unbelievable," Reed said. "This is McCluer North basketball. We have a great tradition with another district championship. This is a celebration of North County basketball with a great team like McCluer and a great coach like Erwin Claggett."

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. North fans are hoping that the victory Saturday does the same, and everything is pointing to another trip to Columbia, MO in a few weeks.

The first stop on title road is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when the Stars meet Fort Zumwalt South (16-11) in a sectional game at Maryville University.

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McCluer North (24-1), the top-ranked team in the area, has won 22 consecutive games, and they looked close to perfection against the No. 4 Comets, who finished at 25-4. The loss for McCluer was its first in 11 games.

McCluer North’s approach this season resembles more of a tough, lunch pail, grind-it-out style with a dose of power from .

"We have more of a group kind of team this year and we work hard on the fundamentals and on defense," said Granger, who led all scorers with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. "We have to work harder than we did last year to try and repeat."

Leading the blue collar attack against McCluer was senior forward Galen Brown. , was all over the court with clutch shooting, precision passing and smart defense. He finished with 13 points.

"Galen Brown always comes up big," said Granger of the conference Player of the Year.

Said Reed: "Galen Brown is a big-time player. I can't say enough about him. He was a state champion with B.J. Young and Granger and the rest. He really played well today."

North started quickly and held a 16-13 lead after the first quarter when guard Byron Ray hit a 3-point shot from near half court as the clock ran out. Chantel Stanciel stole a pass and scored on a layup to give the Comets a 19-16 lead early in the second quarter.

North tied the game at 22 with 4 minutes 55 seconds remaining when Tremayne Garrett scored from under the basket off of a nifty pass from Brown. The lead changed hands three more times before the end of the half with McCluer leading 32-31.

The Stars scored the first 13 points of the third quarter to take a 44-32 lead with 5:29 remaining. Granger hit a layup and converted on a free throw with 4:25 left to give North its biggest lead of the game at 42-32. Ray hit a jumper from the left side for a 44-32 lead with under three minutes to go.

The Comets got back into the game late in the quarter when Leon Watkins hit two free throws to make it 44-40 Stars. Tyrone Griffin, who led the Comets with 13 points, tied the game for McCluer at 47 when he converted the fast break with 3:08 left in the game.

Dorian Holland scored on a layup and made his free throw to give the Stars a 53-47 lead with under a minute left. The Comets used the 3-point shot to make it interesting in the closing seconds. Two bombs from Griffin cut the led to 56-54 with 13.8 seconds left. Brown killed the rally with a rebound and two free throws for the win.

"Our coach told us that big-time players make big-time plays," said Brown, who had 10 of his 13 points coming in the second half. "I just wanted to step up and make some big plays for my team."

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