MANCHESTER — Wilbur Cross took down the top seed in Division I four days ago. On Monday, the Governors set their sights on the reigning champions.
The last time a Division I state tournament was completed in 2019, East Catholic won the title at the Mohegan Sun Arena over Windsor. The cast and crew has changed for the Eagles but the mantra hasn’t: Run your sets on offense, clamp down on defense and everything else should take care of itself.
No. 8 seed East Catholic got out to a sizable lead, then had to hold off a comeback by No, 16 Cross in the fourth quarter to win this Division I quarterfinal 73-63 at the Eagles Nest.
“I thought we played to our potential in the first half. I’m not sure we have done that a lot this year. We’ve done it in spurts,” East Catholic coach Luke Reilly said. “I was happy with the way we guarded, I was happy with the way we rebounded and that by far was the key to the game. Forget putting the ball in the basket. I thought we guarded and rebounded well.”
East Catholic (18-6) will face No. 4 Fairfield Prep in the Division I semifinals Wednesday night at a site to be determined. Tip time is likely at 7 p.m.
Ryan Presiano hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Jesuits to stun fifth seed Norwich Free Academy 57-55.
“They are a pretty good team. We scrimmaged them early in the season. Can’t wait,” East Catholic junior James Jones said.
The Eagles were able to run their offense to near perfection in the first half. East ]Catholic connected on seven 3-pointers in the first half, most of them wide-open looks.
The big issue for the Governors (14-10) was trying to win the rebound battle. Jones was a terror on the backboards, collecting 14 of them.
“Coach always tells us to crash the boards in practice translates to the games,” Jones said.
Said Reilly: “(Jones) was amazing, he was great.”
Jones also had six tip-ins for the Eagles. He finished with 25 points.
“That surprised me. I think that (East Catholic offensive rebounding) was probably the difference in the game,” Wilbur Cross coach Kevin Walton said. “They got a lot of offensive rebounds, tip-ins. We tell our guys ‘You have to box out,’ because if you’re not going to box out, the referee is not going to reward you.”
East Catholic led 21-10 after the first quarter and by as many as 16 (37-21) in the second quarter. It’s biggest advantage was 20 points on three different occasions.
But a 14-2 fourth-quarter run by Cross cut the last 20-point deficit to 63-55 with 2:52 left..
“When we went to the press in the end, that gave them some trouble, so in hindsight perhaps we should have gone to that a little earlier,” Walton said.
East Catholic spent two timeouts during that run. The first one set up a possession where the Eagles ran off more than a minute of game clock time.
“In the fourth quarter, we knew we had the game on lock. We just took it out and took our time. We work on this everyday in practice,” Jones said.
Said Walton: “They played within the rules, so you can’t be mad at that. Just another reason why we should have a shot clock here in Connecticut. I’m not mad at that, he used it to his advantage which is fine.”
But the lead proved to be too insurmountable for Cross. With Christian McClease, Fredo Delgado (25 points) and Elijah-Jean Guillaume all juniors, it could prove to be a fine season for the Governors next year.
“If you asked me this question three weeks ago, I would have told you we were consistently inconsistent,” Walton said. “What I have seen in the last two weeks, I’ve seen major growth and major development. The beauty of it is when you see them buying in.”
These two teams were scheduled to play the last time a Division I state tournament was actually held: in 2020. It was a second-round game canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
James Jones, East Catholic: Put aside the 25 points for a second. Jones was a man on the backboards with 14, including a half-dozen tip-ins.
QUOTABLE
”I’m just thrilled for the guys. They had a normal experience these last two home games. It (the chance to have normal crowds) turned very fast. I’m just thrilled for the student-athletes that they can have this experience because the high school window is so small.”
— East Catholic coach Luke Reilly
EAST CATHOLIC 73, WILBUR CROSS 63
(at Manchester)
Wilbur Cross10 17 14 22 — 63
East Catholic21 18 18 16 — 73
WILBUR CROSS (63): Jamel Lee 3 0 0-0 6, Christian McClease 1 1 2-2 7, Fredo Delgado 4 3 8-9 25, Elijah Jean- Guillaume 6 0 2-2 14, Camaree Williams 5 0 1-2 11. Totals 19 4 13-15 63.
EAST CATHOLIC (73): Rob Elliott 4 1 0-1 11, Luke Reilly 0 4 1-2 13, Allyn Wright 5 1 0-1 13, James Jones 9 1 4-5 25, Leandre Sanchez 2 1 2-2 9, Preston Fowler 1 0 0-0 2. Totals 21 8 7-11 73.
Fouled out: Williams.
Credit: Source link