Because of foul trouble, Catholic High's Quan Moorer was limited to 16 minutes of action Friday night in the Crusaders' game against South Forsyth.
He made the most of his final six minutes of play.
The sophomore center played the final six minutes of the game saddled with four fouls, but didn't look like it as he scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the final stanza.
Moorer's play in the fourth quarter, combined with a clutch 3-pointer by Malcolm Greene, sent the Crusaders (9-5) into the finals of the Catholic Christmas Classic with a 41-35 win over South Forsyth (Ga.).
"Both games, last night and tonight, he's a different player in the second half," Catholic coach Nick Mead said. "Maybe that's a part of him being a sophomore and not recognizing just how much he can really take over a game.
"We talk a lot about that with his intensity and how hard he plays. It's not always about his scoring, but tonight, obviously, we needed it."
The Crusaders were leading by one point when Moorer subbed back into the game early in the fourth quarter. He immediately made an impact, driving to the basket on three consecutive possessions to convert easy layups.
But South Forsyth refused to go down without a fight and actually battled back to take a 35-34 lead on a 3-pointer by Kevin Sullivan with 2:52 left in the game.
That set the stage for Greene's big 3-pointer, which came on the Crusaders' subsequent possession. Greene buried a 3-pointer from the right wing, giving the Crusaders a 37-35 lead they would not relinquish.
"It was a big shot, it gave us the separation we really needed," Mead said. "The thing about Malcolm is that it's almost as if there's one emotion the whole game, he just goes and does and the game doesn't ever get too big for him.
"He's another one that's a 10th grader. I've got three or four guys that have a green light with relation to good shot, bad shot, and I think ultimately in that situation, that's a 50-50 call."
Catholic will now turn around and play Murphy High of Mobile in the finals at 7:30 p.m. today. Murphy improved to 15-2 with its semifinal win over Godby on Thursday.
"It is ideal at this point for us to play a team of their caliber," Mead said. "It's funny, they beat Godby (Friday) and Godby sent us home last year. They play similar styles and that's the whole general idea of doing something like this.
"You want to give our guys experience against a team we don't normally see, that we haven't seen play before yesterday. That's what you're going to see down the road."
