St. Augustine began the basketball season with only one player who had any amount of varsity experience.
But now, more than halfway through the Catholic League season, the Purple Knights are in position to make a possible run for the district title.
A key 3-pointer by sophomore Aaron Miles -- he's the son of a former McDonald's All-American and current New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach -- and a go-ahead basket by 6-foot-4 senior Jakobe Shepeard helped St. Augustine overcome a 16-point deficit and defeat John Curtis 47-44 Tuesday at St. Augustine's newly renovated Watson Jones Memorial Gymnasium.
Curtis led 24-8 in the second quarter and St. Augustine chipped away from there, ultimately using a 13-1 run over the final grueling stretch to secure the win.
First-year St. Augustine coach Wade Mason and his players "never thought we were out of it," he said.
"We were missing layups, missing free throws," the coach said. "One possession we had five offensive rebounds. We couldn't make a layup. But we didn't get down on ourselves."
The win put St. Augustine (22-3 overall) at 3-1 in district games with a chance to create a tie for the 9-5A lead when it plays Friday on the road against first-place Holy Cross (20-3), which improved to 4-0 in league games by defeating Jesuit on Tuesday.
With only one round of district play in the Catholic League this year, each game takes on more significance than in past seasons -- making the St. Augustine comeback on Curtis (19-6, 3-1 District 9-5A) even more meaningful with only three games remaining in the district race.
Shepeard scored the final go-ahead basket off a quick pass from senior Khalil Jones with just over 30 seconds remaining, before Curits quickly dribbled up the floor and missed its only shot attempt. Jones rebounded the miss and got fouled with 2.5 seconds remaining and made 1-of-2 from the line.
A final 3-point attempt by Curtis junior Midnight Martin missed off the glass as the buzzer sounded.
Defense made the difference down the stretch.
"Our defense is our best offense," said Mason, a former St. Augustine standout who played on the USA Today No. 1 ranked team in 1995.
"I played for (former St. Augustine coach) Bernard Griffith. I played for (former Tulane coach) Perry Clark. If you didn't play defense, you weren't going to play. That's just the DNA of who I am."
Curtis, which played turnover-free as it built a lead in the first quarter, had five turnovers in the final period.
"Playing hard," Shepeard said when asked how the team managed to make its comeback. "We work so hard in practice every day. No one knows how hard we work. Coach Wade Mason knows how hard we work, and it just pays off in the game. We all believe in each other."
Miles, who finished with a team-high 14 points, made a 3-pointer that drew St. Augustine within 43-42 with 2:25 left to play. After a miss at the other end, junior Ja'Vardes Brazile scored off a pass from senior Brayden Boyd to take a one-point lead.
After Curtis tied the score when junior Autrail Manning made a free throw with 1:02 remaining, St. Augustine crossed midcourt and called timeout, setting up the sequence that ended with Shepeard (13 points) making the go-ahead basket.
Curtis made seven 3-pointers through the first three quarters but managed only five points in the fourth. The first four 3-pointers helped Curtis to a 24-8 lead just after the second quarter started. Manning and junior Hayden Joseph each made two 3-pointers.
St. Augustine, which has three losses this season -- two of them in overtime against Catholic-Baton Rouge and Jesuit -- could be positioned for a high seeding when the LSHAA Division I select playoffs begin next month. Curtis, which had won nine of the 10 previous games, will play Friday at home against Rummel (13-8, 2-2).