Reese rejects chance of A.C. Flora losing to Berea

James Reese made good on his chance at redemption.

After missing a free throw seconds earlier, Reese blocked a potential game-tying shot and then Berea’s Zay Bellenger missed the rebound attempt as A.C. Flora held on to beat Berea 55-51 on Tuesday in front of a raucous crowd at Mattos Gymnasium.

“Only thing that was going through my mind was trying to get my team the win and move on to the next round,” Reese said. “I try to take pride in my defense. I was just trying to stay in front of my man and not let him do anything.”

The Falcons advance to their third straight Class 3A Upper State final and will take on Seneca on Friday at 8:30 p.m. at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

“That is all you can ask for is the opportunity to keep playing at this time of the year,” A.C. Flora coach Joshua Staley said. “If you are fortunate enough to keep playing, we are going to take advantage of our opportunity to get better over the next few days.”

The Falcons led 53-51 with 20 seconds left when Reese was fouled to shoot a 1-and-1 free throw. Reese’s attempt was off and Berea got the ball after it went out of bounds with 19.5 seconds left.

Staley told his team on the final possession not to give up a three-point attempt after watching Berea hit seven of them up until that point. Bulldogs guard Imari Nicholson actually beat Reese initially with a behind-the-back dribble but Reese used his length to block the shot.

Ballenger looked to have an open look for a layup but just missed as Thomas Hollingsworth altered the attempt. Kendale Hampton picked up the rebound and went the length of the court uncontested to seal the game with a dunk.

“Berea is a good team and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Staley said. “Those kids really dug in and showed a lot of heart. And they made some big plays down the stretch.

Berea coach Jeff Maness thought there might have been a possible foul on the final possession but wasn’t going to use it as an excuse.

“I thought there was a lot of contact going to the basket. That’s what we wanted was something going to the basket. No call made, and that’s basketball. You can’t live and die by that,” Maness said.

Hampton led the Falcons with 16 points, and Reese added 15. The two guards combined for 10 points in the third quarter as A.C. Flora led 38-32 headed to the fourth.

The Falcons had a chance to pull away but Berea made sure that wasn’t going to happen after Dorian Hashim banked a 3-pointer to tie the game at 42 with 4:48 left.

The two teams exchanged baskets until Falcons point guard Brandon Davis hit a jumper and made two free throws to give them a 53-47 lead with 1:38 left. Davis had all six of his points during a 90-second stretch in the fourth quarter.

Hashim led Berea with 17 and Jaylan Gordon added 10.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 11:32 PM.