TOWN AND COUNTRY • Tyler Cook went looking for his mojo.
He found it on the bench.
One of the top-ranked players in the Class of 2016, Cook came off the bench Friday and provided a spark as Chaminade defended its Pattonville Tournament title with a 51-42 victory over St. Louis U. High at Maryville University.
“It was a good team win for us,” Cook said.
Cook had 14 points but left the crowd gasping with four wicked dunks that came in transition, on putbacks and on the block. After sitting out the last few minutes of regulation and then all of Chaminade's overtime win over Cardinal Ritter in the semifinals Wednesday, Cook came to life as soon as he touched the court.
“I had to bounce back a little bit. I've been off the last couple of games,” Cook said. “I had to bring some energy to the floor.”
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He and junior guard Mike Lewis provided the scoring punch early on as Chaminade took a 24-20 lead into halftime. Lewis had 10 of his 15 points in the half. National phenom Jayson Tatum had, for him, a rather subdued evening. His only field goal in the first half came just before the buzzer when buried a 3-pointer. He finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
SLUH (2-1) took runner-up honors for the second consecutive season. The Junior Billikens went long stretches without scoring, which ultimately negated their solid defensive work. There aren't many teams that will hold the high-flying Red Devils to 51 points this season.
“They made a few more plays offensively than us and that was the difference,” SLUH coach Erwin Claggett said. “We're a defensive team first. That's what we work on. That's what we pride ourselves on. We're real happy with the effort and the fight they showed.”
Junior point guard Matt Nester scored 17 points to lead SLUH. It was his timely shooting that kept the Junior Billikens afloat as the Red Devils threatened to pull away.
Sophomore guard Brandon McKissic had 12 points. But SLUH couldn't consistently find a way to get past Chaminade's size and length. The Red Devils made it tough on the Junior Billikens all night to get good looks.
“The shots we normally make we didn't make tonight and they might have had something to do with that,” Claggett said.
SLUH never led and trailed by as many as 11 more than once in the fourth quarter but kept chipping away.
Lewis and Tatum both provided key baskets in the fourth to hold off the Junior Billikens.
“We struggled on defense a little bit,” Cook said. “We needed to widen our gap. We need to find a way to get over the hump and get (the lead) to 20 or 25.”
If Cook does indeed find his mojo going forward, the Red Devils will widen the gap on most opponents. The number of teams that can hold Tatum under 20 points are few and far between.
When junior post Will Gladson, who suffered a torn ACL in last year's Pattonville tournament title game and got the start Friday, gets into playing shape, Chaminade is going to have size, length, talent and depth.
Part of the reason the Red Devils looked out of sync was their depth. Coach Frank Bennett substituted liberally and played nearly the entire roster. It's not easy to get into a groove when there are so many new faces in new places.
“We go 10 deep. It's a collective job between us and our coaches to find that right mesh and rhythm,” Cook said. “Part of that is us trying to get a feel for each other. It's early in the season. As the season goes on we'll get better at it.”
CARDINAL RITTER 52, PATTONVILLE 51
Jah-Kobe Womack finished a tough layup on which he was fouled and then knocked in the ensuing free throw to give Cardinal Ritter a 52-51 lead with 17 seconds remaining.
Pattonville freshman guard Elijah Dudley's jumper at the buzzer rattled off the rim and Ritter celebrated a come-from-behind victory in the third-place game.
The No. 1 small school, Ritter (3-2) trailed Pattonville (1-2) by 10 points with 2 minutes and 49 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Pirates led 50-40 but never scored again as Lions went on a run that was sparked by several Pattonville miscues. The Pirates turned the ball over, fouled away from the basket and struggled to manage the last moments of regulation and Ritter took advantage.
"We didn't deserve to win that ball game," Ritter coach Marvin Neals said. "They outplayed us, but I guess our kids just hung in there. They never quit. We were able to pull it out."
Womack finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Alvin Thompson had 14 points and five rebounds.
Pattonville got a balanced scoring attack. Jake Stroker had 16 points, most of which came in the paint. Destan Williams scored 14 points and Richard Henderson had 11.