The Burlington School boys run away with semifinal matchup, clinch rematch with Northwood Temple in title game

Jamarii Thomas posted 23 points and six assists and The Burlington School defeated visiting Wayne Country Day School 79-57 Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NCISAA Class 2-A state playoffs to clinch its spot in Saturday’s championship rematch in Burlington.

“We’ll be excited to compete. (Northwood Temple) is really good, so it’s going to be tough,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “But, we’re happy they’re coming here. Our body of work during the regular season earned us a home game Saturday night. We’ll go out and give it our best shot.”

The Spartans (23-7), led by 14 first-quarter points from Isaiah Escobar, built a double-digit lead in the first half before a brief Wayne Country Day run cut the lead to single digits in the third quarter.

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“My teammates helped me out, got me in the right spots,” Escobar said. “It all couldn’t be done without them, really. … I try to be available for my teammates any time possible.”

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Escobar drained three 3-pointers in the first quarter and sparked the Spartans by scoring the first 12 points of the game. He finished with 17 points.

“Isaiah has been with me for six years now,” Bernardi said of Escobar. “He was with me in AAU. He was with me at Burlington Christian Academy. He’s with us at TBS. He’s the best teammate in the world and there’s nobody that deserves success more than Isaiah. Just super proud of him.”

The Chargers (23-3) cut The Burlington School lead to as little as five points in the third quarter, when Thomas took control, driving to the basket time and time again, either finishing or getting to the free throw line.

“He’s really hard to guard when he’s in space,” Bernardi said of Thomas, the UNC Wilmington commit. “It’s really hard to stay in front of him without fouling.”

TBS big man Kuluel Mading finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, scoring the Spartans first eight points of the second quarter. 

“We’re going to come in locked in,” Mading said of the championship rematch against Northwood Temple. “Satisfied with this win, celebrate it until about 12 o’clock then lock in because we don’t want a repeat of last year.”

Escobar, who led the Spartans in scoring with 12 points in last season’s 47-44 loss to Northwood Temple in the Class 1-A state championship game, said that loss stuck with the Spartans.

“Oh, we’re taking this one personal,” he said. “The locker room after that game was pretty depressing.”

In last season’s title game, Mading and fellow post player Mylyjael Poteat, now a freshman at Rice, struggled to score.

“We combined, I don’t know, for less than five points,” Mading said. “Honestly, it was just a bad game for us. I don’t want a repeat of that. I’m not even the same player that I was last year. I needed this game to propel myself to play even better and get out of my comfort zone for that game. I just set high expectations for not only myself, but my team as well. We don’t want a repeat of last year.”

The Burlington School's Kobe George poured in 11 points in the semifinal game.

Guard Jaden Cooper scored 16 points and post player Vante Hutcherson provided 15 points to pace Wayne Country Day.

“That team is good and they present a lot of issues with their guard play,” Bernardi said. “I’m really proud of our defensive effort. Just really proud of our group and excited for Saturday.”

David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.

This article originally appeared on Times-News: The Burlington School boys run away with semifinal matchup, clinch rematch with Northwood Temple in title game