The way Grady Preston figures, the hunter and fisherman inside of him did wonders toward helping him turn in heroics Tuesday that will be remembered for a lifetime.
Preston scored 11 points in the final five minutes to help Chadwick rally from a 10-point, fourth quarter deficit and knock off three-time defending Class 1 state champion South Iron 47-41 in a Sectional thriller.
Preston hit a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch, as Chadwick came back from being down 35-25 at the 5:15 mark of the fourth quarter.
“I was nervous, to be honest I was super nervous,” Preston said. “Being able to get everyone going with those 3s means a lot. I wouldn't say I'm clutch. Every now and then I can hit a few shots in the clutch. But I still wouldn't say I'm super clutch.
“When you see a big 'ol buck walk in (range), your heart gets to beating really fast and you're all anxious,” he added. “Any fish or any deer really gets my blood going and my heart beating fast. I would assume that probably helped me for these kind of moments.”
Preston doesn’t have a trophy buck to his name and he considers the biggest fish he’s ever reeled in, a five-pounder, to be decent, but a bit modest. However, there was nothing small-scale about his contributions Tuesday in what has to rate as one of the biggest wins in Chadwick’s history on the hardwood.
“Grady played a heck of a game,” teammate Clayton Garrison said. “I’m super proud of him. We needed him and I knew he was capable of it. I knew to give him the ball because he's been knocking down shots for us all year.”
Leading up to the fourth quarter, Preston wasn’t necessarily looking for his own shot. He scored six points over the first three quarters, and as the Cardinals’ point guard, was trying to get their offense back in rhythm.
“When I can't get something going, I like to get the ball moving and get my teammates involved or get in the lane, get fouled and shoot some free throws,” Preston said.
Joining Preston as a clutch shooter in the fourth quarter was his backcourt mate, Tristan Smith. He hit one 3-pointer while scoring seven points over those fantastic five minutes.
Smith related he feels no pressure when shooting, thanks to the faith coach Shawn Guerin and the rest of the Cardinals have in him.
"The confidence that Shawn gives me and my teammates give me helps so much,” Smith said. “They all keep telling me to shoot. Our managers tell me to shoot. Usually, if you shoot and miss, the coach might put his head down. But with Shawn telling me to keep shooting, it makes me feel like it's just a game again, and you don't have anything on the line.”
With Preston and Smith combining for 18 points, Chadwick put up an incredible 22 points over the final 5:15. The Cardinals emerged in a big way from an extended scoring drought in which they had scored only five points over a 13-minute stretch that covered the final two-plus minutes of the second quarter, all of the third quarter and the first two-plus minutes of the fourth quarter.
During that arduous dry spell, South Iron came back from being down 20-9 to take a 35-25 lead.
Garrison, who surely is on his way toward his second All-State selection, didn’t have an offensive night up to his standards. But his overall play was exceptional. The junior forward was 6-of-16 shooting from the field while scoring 14 points. He stood out by collecting seven rebounds and seven blocked shots.
All but one of Garrison’s blocks were around the basket, thus it’s no exaggeration to state he denied South Iron a sure-fire 12 points on those six swats.
“I wish I would have scored more for us,” said Garrison, who reached the 1,500-point milestone with his 11th point on the night. “But I'm happy Grady scored like he did. My defense was good and I rebounded well. So, I'm good with what I did and proud of us all.”
What made Garrison’s block party even more amazing was he also played an instrumental role in the middle of Chadwick’s full-court press and repeatedly went after steals along the perimeter in the Cardinals’ half-court defense.
"That kid is a different kind of athlete,” Preston said. “He’s freakin' amazing on the ball, running all over this floor. He is a do-it-all player.”
“I was cramping, but knew we had to win.” Garrison said. “I didn't want this to be our seniors' last game. So, I kept pushing and we came out with the ‘W.’”
Chadwick’s press has been a staple of Guerin’s teams over the years and it absolutely got the best of South Iron at times. The Panthers were guilty of 15 turnovers, including six giveaways in the first quarter and four more in the fourth quarter.
“Our press is what we work on all the time,” Smith said. “That’s got to be the thing we work on the most in practice. We run it against our scout team over and over again. It's worked ever since I can remember when I came to the games when I was really little. I was always wanting to get up here with Shawn and run it and do everything I'm doing right now.”
“We have a lot of confidence in our press,” Garrison said. “Shawn pushes us to be fast on defense. All Chadwick kids are really good on defense, that's one thing we're good at.”
This was the fourth straight season the Cardinals (26-3) and Panthers (27-2) met at Sectionals. Of course, South Iron won the previous three on its way to its state titles.
The combination of finally beating South Iron, doing so in comeback fashion and in front of a boisterous crowd made it a night the Cardinals won’t ever forget.
“It was electric here tonight,” Smith said. “I can barely even hear right now and my voice is gone. I can't even explain how happy I am right now. I still have adrenaline running through me. I wish we could have done this in years past, but I feel like we've gotten better and understood better what they do. We’ve grown as a basketball team.”
“They're an amazing team. Getting this win against them really helps our confidence,” Preston said. “This place was packed tonight. This is what it's all about.”
A Final Four berth will be on the line at 5 p.m. Saturday, when Chadwick plays host to Richland (23-7).
