By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

JACKSON — Senior Max Baria dunked the ball on consecutive St. Stanislaus possessions late in the third quarter to give the Rock-a-Chaws a momentum that they would not surrender on their way to a 49-36 win over Quitman in the Class 3A State Championship game on Saturday.

And, that span magnified just how much the current crop of seniors meant to this run to the Gold Ball for the Rock-A-Chaws, just like it did in their first title 15 years ago.

Baria’s second dunk gave the Rocks a 40-30 lead with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, and the Rocks would close out the quarter on a 4-2 run which would give them another 12-point lead at 44-32.

“It got us so hyped,” said Baria. “The energy on the court was insane. Our student section and fans were going crazy. I think it turned up a level of intensity.

“I see on line, coaches saying if you get a chance, you better dunk it, because that’s a momentum-changing play in the game,” said Baria.

“We talk about momentum-generating plays all the time,” said Rock-a-Chaws coach Daniel Grieves. Grieves was a standout, All-State player for SSC in 20111 when the program won its first state title.

“And we preach attitude and effort, and we know if we keep the attitude and the effort, eventually it’s going to give us an opportunity to capitalize in a big way.” Grieves added. “It’s been different every game, but tonight it culminated in his back-to-back dunks.

“These guys were in eighth grade, and these guys were in seventh grade my first year,” said Grieves. “And so, watching them grow and develop over the last couple of years has been awesome. They’ve bought into what we believe as a program and as a school. And it’s great to see the fruits of their hard work come to life.”

Baria is one of three players to close out his prep career with a championship win. The other two seniors are Alan Gilliam and Jorge Hernandez. Gilliam also made a momentum play by sinking a three-pointer on a 10-point Rock-a-Chaw in the first quarter. Both Baria and Gilliam were full-time starters all season long for SSC.

“We spent all summer and every day to this point, working all the way to get this state championship,” said Gilliam. “We worked our butts off. There’s a lot of grit and grime, emotion. We worked our butts off. It feels amazing that we’ve got here. My senior year, we finally did it. We got the program back to where it was. Hopefully we can keep it going from here.”

Grieves combined with his front court partner and classmate Johnny Zuppardo to lead the Rocks to their first Gold ball.

“It’s never been about me,” said Grieves. “It’s always been about my guys, about giving them the opportunity to have the success that I know is possible to have at St. Stanislaus.”

“This feels awesome. We knew that this was going to be our last game, no matter the outcome, win or lose.” said Baria. “We gave our all.”