Loper lifts Sage Hill to tourney title

Barry Faulkner

Sage Hill School senior Matt Loper is no longer the spindly, smallish

point guard he was for most of his first three varsity seasons with

the Lightning. But, with the outcome in his hands and the clock

winding down in the championship game of the Tarbut V’Torah boys

basketball tournament against the host Lions Tuesday, the

now-6-foot-3 front-court performer proved he hasn’t abandoned his

perimeter roots.

With 11 seconds left in overtime and the score tied, 53-53, Loper

took an inbound pass, dribbled across the time line and attacked the

TVT zone defense. Loper slashed to the right wing, before his

penetration was halted. So, he rose in the air and launched an

off-balance 17-foot, high-arching leaner that banked in with 2.2

seconds left to give the Lightning the first tournament crown in the

program’s young history.

“We’ve never won anything,” said Sage Coach Steve Keith, who opted

to let Loper decide whether a second overtime would be needed.

“We had some specials [set plays], but they usually require two or

three passes and, with 11 seconds, I didn’t think there was enough

time,” Keith said. “So, we put the ball in our best player’s hands.

We tried to flatten the baseline and allow him to penetrate and

possibly kick to a teammate. But he took the shot and it worked out

for us.”

Loper, who shared team-high scoring honors with freshman Jamie

McGee (20 points each) and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable

Player, said he wasn’t trying to bank it.

“I just kind of let it go,” he said.

Loper, who opened overtime with a traditional three-point play and

netted his eight field goals before the game-winner from inside 11

feet, said he still feels comfortable facing the basket with the ball

in his hands.

“My first three seasons, I played point guard,” he said. “Then, I

grew about five or six inches, so I’m playing more inside now.”

Perhaps the biggest inside buckets for the Lightning (10-1),

however, came from another source.

Stephen Hancock, a 6-1 post, converted two putbacks in the final

1:25 of regulation to help Sage avert a loss.

“He put us into overtime,” Keith said of Hancock, who did not have

a field goal, until fielding a missed three-pointer and scoring. He

then hauled in a missed foul shot with 26 seconds left in regulation

and converted again.

McGee, who joined Loper on the all-tournament team, was also key

for the winners. He converted a runner and a three ball to erase a

39-34 deficit midway through the third quarter. His three-pointer

with 1:58 left in overtime put Sage on top, 51-50. He then answered a

TVT three ball by connecting from 10 feet to knot the score at 53.

After the two teams traded turnovers, Hancock blocked a baseline

jumper and rebounded with 23 seconds left to set up Loper’s historic

heroics.

“This is the first hardware we’ve ever won,” Keith said of the

team plaque and individual trophies awarded to the champions. “We

were two depleted teams [Sage played with six players and TVT was

without returning All-CIF Southern Section guard Jamie Stopnitzky],

the kids were tired, and it is the holidays. It wasn’t a Picasso, but

it was a great high school basketball game.”

Sage made all four it its field-goal attempts in overtime, while

TVT was 3 for 4, including a pair of three-pointers. Hancock finished

with six points and 10 rebounds, while Mike Voge had 10 boards for

the winners.

Junior guard Tim Lefler chipped in five assists and four steals to

go with his two points, before fouling out with 2:29 left in the

four-minute overtime.

Tarbut V’Torah tournament

Championship

Sage Hill 55, Tarbut V’Torah 53

Score by Quarters

*--*

Sage Hill 10 10 14 11 10 -- 55

TVT 8 7 16 14 8 -- 53

*--*

Sage Hill -- Loper 20, Hancock 6, Voge 3, McGee 20, Lefler 2,

Webster 4.

3-pt. goals -- McGee 2.

Fouled out -- Lefler.

Technicals -- None.

Tarbut V’Torah -- Wampole 8, Zevin 3, Bruss 0, Cohen 21,

Eisenberg-Tan 16, Hirschfield 5.

3-pt. goals -- Eisenberg-Tan 2, Wampole 1, Hirshfield 1.

Fouled out -- Zevin.

Technicals -- Bruss 1.