“SOUTH CITY • Tony Irons tugged on his shirt, let out a deep breath and tried to slow his beating heart.
‘It might have been entertaining for you, but it was a little bit stressful for me,’ Irons, the Imagine College Prep basketball coach, said with a wide grin.
In just his second year at the helm, Irons and his coaching staff delivered the first district championship in Imagine’s six years of existence. The Bears used a ferocious defense and got some clutch offense from sophomore guard Martavian Payne to rally past Miller Career Academy 56-53 to win the Class 4 District 4 championship Thursday night at St. Mary’s.
Imagine (11-12) didn’t hold its first lead of the fourth quarter until Payne hit a runner in the lane with 32 seconds to go. He then forced a steal at midcourt with just over six seconds remaining and dropped in a layup at the buzzer to send the Imagine team, coaches and fans into a celebratory frenzy.
‘He’s a great player,’ Irons said of Payne. ‘He’s definitely one of our most talented. He steps up in big games.’
Payne finished with 19 points, six of which came in the last 80 seconds of the game.
Miller Career (20-8), No. 10 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-school rankings, led by eight with just over six minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The deficit prompted Irons to call a timeout.
Out of the break, junior shooting guard Taj Az-Razzaaq buried a deep 3-pointer from the left wing that set the gym afire and kick started the Bears’ run. With 3-pointers from Orlando Johnson and then Payne, Imagine was rolling.
Miller Career had chances down the stretch to extend its lead but faltered. The Phoenix missed free throws and couldn’t execute around the rim as time ticked away.
‘I’ve been telling this team since November, missed layups and free throws will kill you in big games,’ Miller Career coach Dale Turner said. ‘In a tight game, that always kills you.’
Miller had a balanced scoring attack. Junior guard Allen Holmes led the way with 11 points, senior guard Dorian Dean netted 10, and senior guard Jaronn Jones scored 7.
After such a crushing defeat, Turner said he wasn’t happy with the result but couldn’t find any fault with his team’s effort.
‘I can’t be down on my kids because they gave me 110 percent all the time,’ Turner said.
Imagine will play the winner of the Festus-Hillsboro game at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Jefferson College.”
Article published on Feb. 24, 2011 by Stltoday.com