Keenan slows Zion Williamson, advances to Chick-fil-A title game

Zion Williamson added a couple more highlight-reel dunks to his resume, but Keenan made sure he didn’t get them when it mattered the most.

The Raiders held the highly touted Spartanburg Day junior to seven points in the second half as they knocked off the Griffins, 57-54, on Thursday at the Chick-fil-A Classic at Richland Northeast.

Keenan advances to the championship game of the National Division and will face No. 1 La Lumiere (Ind.) on Friday at 8:30 p.m.

“I told them at the walk-through today as long as we limited Zion’s touches, he will get tired at the end of the game and it kind of showed on him,” Zach Norris said. “The whole team just played good tonight.”

Norris used freshman Dillon Jones and Dantrell Sligh-Rogers on Williamson, who scored 53 points against Gray Collegiate on Tuesday and came into the game averaging 37.8 points. He finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds, but had two or three defenders around him any time he got the ball inside the paint.

“I wasn’t really scared, because that is how I was raised up – to guard bigger players and to come up on the big stage,” Jones said. I told (Dantrell) I had his back. We just grinded out to the end.”

Still, Williamson was able get free on occasion and his 360-dunk brought the sold-out crowd to its feet as the Griffins went on a 6-0 run to lead 35-30 with 14:37 left.

Spartanburg Day increased the lead to 40-34, and Norris called a timeout. From there, the Raiders withstood all the noise and settled in on the defensive end for the remainder of the game. During Keenan’s comeback, Sligh-Rogers took a charge from the 6-foot-8 Williamson, who was barreling down the lane.

“When he took the charge, I was like that was big time and change of momentum,” Jones said

Sligh-Rogers and Jones, who combined for 25 points, helped on the offensive end as well and hit back-to-back baskets to tie it at 47.

Keenan trailed 54-53 with 1:06 left but Jones put the Raiders ahead with a layup and hit two free throws to make it 57-54 with 20 seconds left. The Griffins never got a chance to tie it and Norris was jogging down the bench waving his yellow towel as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“It looks like everyone in the city doesn’t think we are that good,” Norris said. “But we tell the kids it all counts when it is all over with anyway.”

Jones led Keenan with 13, and Sligh-Rogers added 12. Tariq Simmons scored 11.

Wheeler 79, Blythewood 61

Auburn commit E.J. Montgomery scored 26 points, and Wheeler shot 64 percent from the floor in the second half to pull away from Blythewood.

Wheeler advances to the American Division championship game and will face John Carroll (Md.).

Keith Matthews led the Bengals (7-3) with 18 points as Blythewood stayed with Wheeler for a little more than a half. Kam Riley’s jump hook put Blythewood up 34-33 with 2:30 left in the first half.

But Wheeler scored six straight points to end the half and never trailed in the second half.

Gray Collegiate 74, A.C. Flora 70

North Carolina signee Jalek Felton scored 42 points as Gray Collegiate rallied to defeat A.C. Flora.

The War Eagles trailed 40-32 at halftime. Felton was 15-of-22 from the field and hit four 3-pointers.

James Reese led A.C. Flora with 27 points.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 11:22 PM with the headline "Keenan slows Zion Williamson, advances to Chick-fil-A title game."