ST. PETERSBURG — Shorecrest coach Daryl Blume accurately describes junior guard Brady Grimm as a “scorer” and the Chargers needed every bit of his efforts Tuesday night.
Grimm scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half as the Chargers rallied past Cardinal Mooney, 73-63 in their Class 3A region semifinal.
The Chargers struggled from the floor in the first half and found themselves down by as many as nine points in the second quarter. A basket by Chase Showalter gave Shorecrest a one-point lead but Cardinal Mooney led 26-25 at the half.
Grimm took over in the third quarter, hitting a 3-pointer to open the half and controlling the action with strong drives to the basket that scored or sent him to the line.
“Brady was very aggressive and he opened up things for our shooters a bit in the second half,” Blume said. “But he is one of those players that’s going to find a way to score and if that means taking to the ball in the lane he’ll do it.”
Grimm scored 12 in the third quarter and converted a three-point play to give Shorecrest a 43-34 lead. Kent Kilgroe and Kenny DeVaul added 3-pointers at the end of the quarter to give the Charges a 54-41 lead.
A 3-pointer from Tyee Johnson early in the fourth pushed Shorecrest’s lead to 61-46, but Cardinal Mooney hung around and a 3-pointer from Jarred Aabel closed the gap to 69-63.
The Chargers, however, tightened up on defense and Johnson hit 3-of-4 from the line down the stretch to ice the victory.
“It’s always nice to win every game by 20 points but as we get deeper in the playoffs you’re going to need to grind some out,” Blume added. “I was happy our guys responded when they were challenged.”
Johnson added 13 points for the Chargers while Ryan McMahon led Cardinal Mooney with 22.