WEBSTER GROVES – Zyree Collins can generate his own shot whenever he wants.
The St. Mary’s junior, who leads the area in scoring, uses a devastating first step, a springboard jumping ability and a lightning-quick release to create shots for himself, seemingly at will.
But it was the shots he generated for his teammates Saturday that pushed St. Mary’s to victory.
“A lot of my shots weren’t falling so I was trying to get steals, get out in transition and get everyone going as a team,” Collins said.
Collins scored 25 points and made the key steals and assists down the stretch to help St. Mary’s defeat Clayton 75-68 in a Class 5 District 2 semifinal at Webster Groves High.
St. Mary’s (25-3), the No. 1 seed, advanced to the district championship game and will face No. 2 Vianney (22-6) at 6 pm. Tuesday at Roberts Gymnasium.
With St. Mary’s trailing 55-54 early in the fourth quarter, Collins displayed his all-around game to push the Dragons to the finish line. He drove the lane and found sophomore Marvin Neals III for a right-wing 3 to give the Dragons the lead. Then he probed the paint and located senior Demetrius Griffin for a left-wing 3.
“He’s so unselfish. If a play calls for someone attacking the basket, he’s capable of doing that, and then once he draws two or three (defenders), he can kick it out,” St. Mary’s coach Bryan Turner said. “He loves to make the right play.”
And a confident St. Mary’s supporting cast rose to the challenge throughout the fourth quarter. In a two-minute stretch, sophomore Gary Johnson put back a missed 3, blocked a shot in transition, made a steal, and delivered an assist to Neals – all part of a crucial 7-0 run that increased the Dragons’ lead to 66-57.
For Johnson, having an impact on the outcome proved even more special after coming up empty on two dunk attempts on the first two St. Mary’s possessions of the game.
“When I missed those dunks, I just knew I had to get into it, lock in and play my hardest,” Johnson said.
With the Dragons clinging to a 67-63 lead, Collins continued to make winning plays.
He swiped a pass in the backcourt and found freshman Xavier Clark for a layup. After converting a tough basket in traffic for a three-point play, Collins soared for a defensive rebound and fired a full-length baseball pass that hit Griffin in stride for the hoop that sealed the win.
Both teams showed their shot-making capabilities in an up-and-down first half that produced nine lead changes. Clayton junior Elijah Fauss, who led the Greyhounds with 30 points, established his presence in the paint with an assortment of nifty post moves.
“(Fauss) sets the tone with his physicality and a lot of that is around the basket. We’re very successful when he dominates the low post, and it opens up a lot of stuff for our guards,” Clayton coach Sumner Ahearn said.
Meanwhile, Collins showed why he averages 32 points per game. He hit a fadeaway jumper off one foot and a teardrop floater in the lane. Twice, he blocked a shot at one end and swished a pull-up three in transition at the other, part of a 17-point first half as St. Mary’s took a 34-31 lead into halftime.
Clayton (19-9) held Collins to eight points in the second half by employing a defense that rotated different players on him and swarmed him when he caught the ball.
“Anybody has their work cut out when you’re trying to guard Collins. We had a game plan of just making it tough for him. We wanted him to shoot contested shots,” Ahearn said.
But it was Collins’ ability to activate offense for other players that prompted a third-quarter spurt for the Dragons. His steal and feed to Griffin, who finished with 16 points, opened a 47-35 lead for St. Mary’s.
“We didn’t feel we were playing our best. We weren’t causing many turnovers and we were turning the ball over more than we should. It was time to come together and play our game,” Griffin said.
But Clayton, which was riding a 12-game winning streak, refused to go away.
Fauss put together a personal 8-0 run to close the gap, and when senior Santana Bolden drilled consecutive threes, the Greyhounds sliced the deficit to one point after three quarters.
Bolden scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half as Clayton stayed step-for-step with a Dragons’ team averaging 82.7 points per game.
“I felt confident that we could get open looks, and I trusted that if we got good looks, we were going to be around the game,” Ahearn said.
A Fauss corner-3 early in the fourth gave Clayton a 55-54 lead, but it was the last lead for the Greyhounds, as the relentless pressure and high-octane pace eventually took its toll.
“Even when they went (ahead), I looked at the guys and said, ‘We just have to keep coming with it because eventually they’re going to get tired, and we’re going to have to kick it into another gear,’” Turner said.
And with both St. Mary’s and Vianney averaging north of 70 points this season, the district championship game on Tuesday will likely be played at hyper-speed.
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