- Michigan
Sachs’ late free throws lift Greenhills past Bishop Foley, into Gryphons’ first-ever CHSL title game
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Perhaps there hasn’t been time for the Gryphons to fully disseminate all the paperwork and bylaws, but Ann Arbor Greenhills doesn’t seem to be aware of just how hard it is to make it through the gauntlet of the Catholic League basketball tournament.
Just two years after joining the CHSL, and in its first year of tournament play, Greenhills has made it all the way to the C-D title game Calihan, using a come-from-behind, 31-29 win over Madison Heights Bishop Foley in the semifinals to get there.
Drew Sachs hit two free throws with 21.5 seconds left to give Greenhills (15-3, 73- CHSL Intersectional 1) its first lead since early in the second quarter.
“It was a rough game, pretty much all game, so that was nice to finally go to the line toward the end of the game, and knock them down and finally get a lead,” said Sachs, who’d been knocked around all game by the defense of Bishop Foley (8-9, 5-5 CHSL Intersectional 1), without going to the line.
“That was nice getting a lead at the end, and just playing our defense the way we do, and getting a stop to win the game.”
After the stop, Sachs’ teammate Leo Fried split a pair from the line with 4.8 seconds left to make it a two-point game.
The Gryphons led 9-3 after one quarter, but Foley stormed back with a 12-5 second quarter to take a 15-14 halftime lead. Foley entered the fourth with a 23-20 lead, and held a 28-24 advantage with 1:45 left, before Greenhills scored seven of the final eight points of the game to win.
Sachs led all scorers with 14 points, while Finn Klein had seven. Sam Siepker led the Ventures with seven points — all in the second half — while Joey Kennedy had six points.
Greenhills joined the Catholic League last year — it’s probationary year — and was eligible for tournament play this season. The Gryphons will take on Royal Oak Shrine (12-6, 7-3 Intersectional 1) for the C-D title.
The two teams split their regular-season meetings, with Shrine winning 54-52 on the road the first week of December, then the Gryphons willing 65-51 in Royal Oak at the end of January.
