The Carrier Mills Wildcats put their usual stamp of patient offense and suffocating defense on the first quarter of Wednesday night’s sectional semifinal in Eldorado.
The rest of the night – for the most part – belonged to Justin Mayti and the Sesser-Valier Red Devils.
Mayti finished with 29 points, including clutch late free throws and a rally-killing stickback – carrying his club to a 52-42 victory, and into the sectional title game. Sesser-Valier will now play top-seeded Meridian on Friday at Duff Kingston Gym, with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
The loss ends the Wildcats’ stellar season at 25-6.
The game started slowly on offense for both teams, with Sesser-Valier holding a 4-2 lead over three minutes in, before the Wildcats started their run with an 18-footer from Wyatt Kirkland to knot the score.
Jordan Miller got on a loose ball and found Kirkland on a runout for another score, putting the Wildcats on top, and long jumpers by Chase Craig and Rae Ward capped an 8-0 run that had the Wildcats up 10-4 with 2:40 left.
The quarter almost ended that way, but Miller – going hard after a tap-out by Sesser-Valier’s T.J. Eubanks – fouled Dane Eubanks on a three-point attempt as the first quarter buzzer sounded. Eubanks hit two of three foul shots while alone on the court, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to 10-6 after one.
After Sesser-Valier got within a point for the first time since the early going, a big hustle play gave the Wildcats some temporary room. A Dillan Harrison airball was let go by the Red Devil interior, but Ward laid out in full, diving for the ball and saving it Jordan Jackson underneath for a hoop that put their club up 14-11.
Mayti took over from there, showing range with a 17-footer, then scoring through a double team to put his team up 15-14.
Ward regained the lead for the Cats with a turnaround, high-bank shot off the class, but D. Eubanks canned a three on the other end. And on the final possession of the half, when Eubanks missed a late three, Mayti was there to gather in the rebound and put it back in, leaving S-V up 20-17 at the break.
Carrier Mills regained the lead briefly out of the chute in the second half, with a tough turnaround jumper by Jackson and a three by Craig giving them a 22-20 edge with 6:46 left in the third.
