KIRKWOOD – Sabastian Bolden is putting up points with a deafening silence.
The Clayton junior, who is among the area leaders in scoring, does not need many shot attempts to place an eye-popping total on the scoresheet.
“He had forty in one game, and I turned to my staff and said, ‘He has how many?’” Clayton coach Sumner Ahearn said. “When you’re averaging that much, it’s hard to be quiet, but since he’s so unselfish and makes the right play, it’s truly is special to watch.”
Bolden continued his quietly blaring season by dropping a game-high 22 points to lead Clayton to an impressive 76-60 victory over Eureka in the semifinals of the Rotating 8 Tournament Wednesday at Vianney High School.
Clayton (11-3) will face host Vianney (14-1) for the tourney championship at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Vianney High. The Griffins defeated Parkway North 67-33 in the other semifinal behind a triple double from 7-foot sophomore Mamadou Barry, who had 10 points, 14 rebounds and a school record 12 blocks.
Eureka (10-3) had defeated Clayton four consecutive times coming into the Rotating 8 semifinal, including a victory on a last-second layup in the tourney semis last season.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’ve thought about that game a few times,” Ahearn said.
Bolden, who is shooting 61.6 percent from the field and 53 percent from three-point range, began the rematch quietly. He attempted only one shot over the first seven minutes and mostly served as a distributor to his teammates. Junior Damarion Verges was the recipient of two Bolden assists and Clayton claimed an early 10-8 lead.
“Trusting my teammates is a big thing. It’s fun passing the ball, seeing everyone score and not taking all the shots myself,” Bolden said.
A breakaway layup began an explosive nine-minute run for Bolden. He drained a three to close the first quarter, then made two acrobatic layups in traffic to put the Greyhounds ahead 26-14 midway through the second quarter.
“I will scream it from the rooftops that Sabastian Bolden is the best scorer I’ve ever coached, and he’s able to do it because he’s so unselfish,” Ahearn said. “He makes the right decision every single time.”
A contested three, a putback, and a pair of free throws gave Bolden a 16-point first half on just eight shot attempts and put the Greyhounds ahead 38-26 at halftime. For the season, Bolden has scored 317 points on just 190 shot attempts.
“The key to being so efficient is playing smart and not forcing any shots,” said Bolden, who is averaging 26.5 points per game. “I take pride in taking good shots and helping my teammates get good shots.”
Eureka has proven to be an excellent comeback team this season, erasing a 20-point halftime deficit to defeat Lafayette on Dec. 18 and wiping away a 12-point first quarter deficit to defeat Marquette on Dec. 28.
The Wildcats quickly made their move upon emergence from the halftime locker room. Baskets by John Haberkorn, Jaxson Joggerst, and a three-point play by Joe Rauls sliced the deficit to 42-37 early in the third quarter.
“We told them (at halftime), ‘They’re going to make their run, but the best part about us, is that we can score with a lot of good teams, and when they make their run, we know ours is right behind it,’” Ahearn said.
And the Greyhounds answered the Eureka run with defense. Verges blocked shots on consecutive possessions that led to fast break points; Bolden, the area leader with 4.25 steals per game, picked a dribbler at midcourt and converted a breakaway layup; and Matthew Hurst, a staunch defender on Clayton’s state championship soccer team, intercepted a pass and scored in the closing seconds to give the Greyhounds a 17-point lead after three quarters.
“We really wanted this game. At the beginning of the season, we weren’t as good at (maintaining leads), but this was our game to really show up in the second half,” said Verges, who finished with 18 points and six blocks.
Rauls led Eureka with 21 points. Haberkorn added 13 and Joggerst had 12.
Bolden, who is also a 90 percent free throw shooter, did not score in the fourth quarter but still made an impact, playing outstanding perimeter defense and closing the game with a brilliant assist to a cutting Verges.
“They’re thinking about fouling, we’re thinking about getting great shots, and he hits Damarion coming across the lane for a wide-open layup,” Ahearn said. “Most teams, with a player like (Bolden), are going to go 1-4 flat and let him go downhill, but he makes the right decision every single time.”
Bolden credits the development of his shot-making ability to being defended by the rangy Verges in practice and finding ways to score through Verges’ exceptional length, timing and skill.
“When I go up against him in practice, it’s pretty annoying, but It’s good to go up against someone as lanky as him, and I can translate that to the game,” Bolden said.
Bolden and the Greyhounds will have to be creative when entering the paint Friday against Vianney 7-footer Mamadou Barry, who blocked a school-record 12 shots in the Griffins’ semifinal win over Parkway North.
“We’re going to have to be picture perfect. (Barry) will make it tough to score, but I’m confident we’ll figure it out,” Bolden said.
And despite scoring 75-plus points nine times and 90-plus three times, the Greyhounds have figured out that the key to their success lies in their defense.
“At the beginning of the season, we had a lot of problems on defense. We’d score 80 points, but we’d let up 75, so we made that a focal point in practice and started taking a lot of pride in our defense,” Bolden said.
Hurst added, “We know we can score a lot of points, but our coaches harp on defense, defense, defense. We know if we play defense well, we’ll win a lot of games.”
For a photo gallery from this game, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Basketball-Photos/Boys-Basketball-2025-26/Clayton-vs-Eureka-1-14-25
Tournament Notes: The Rotating 8 tournament is utilizing a 35-second shot clock. The championship game between Vianney, which scored 110 points in the first round, and Clayton, which averages 75 points per game, may not come into play very much.
“That ball usually goes up within 20 seconds,” Bolden said.
For photo galleries from previous Clayton basketball games, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Basketball-Photos/Boys-Basketball-2025-26