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All Basketball - Boys Stories
When Wednesday’s district semifinal game against host Summit Academy got hot, the Cabrini Monarchs kept their cool.
Cabrini found itself in a heart-pounding down-to-the-wire battle with the Dragons and didn’t blink, coming away with a 57-51 victory.
“That’s the thing about this team.” said Coach Mark Shea. “When things get frenetic, they are at their best.
“I think at those times they just play and let the game come to them. They have good basketball instincts and they’ve played together a long, long time.”
Most of this team has played together since the fifth and sixth grade, according to Shea.
The Monarchs used good free-throw shooting to beat Grosse Ile in Monday’s first-round game and they put those skills to work again Wednesday.
Cabrini was just 12-for-20 from the line Wednesday, but hit seven of those in the fourth quarter.
Andrew Smith, Ian Wagner and Michael Ball all connected from the stripe in the final minute as the Monarchs held the frantic Dragons at bay.
The game threatened to get away from Shea’s team several times.
Summit led 15-9 at the end of the first period and a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter pushed the Summit lead to nine before Ball hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 39-33 at the end of three periods.
More bombs helped the Monarchs get back in front.
Wagner, who wound up the game’s leading scorer, had five long balls in the game and three of them came in the fourth quarter. His triple at 6:23 of the fourth erased the last of what was Summit’s lead.
From there, the game went back-and-forth until the final minute.
Summit’s last lead was 49-48 and it came on a Blake Horvath lay-up with 2:17 to play in the game.
With 1:35 to play. Wagner again hit from beyond the arc to give Cabrini a 51-49 lead and the Monarchs would never again lose it.
In the final minute, Cabrini was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and Summit was 2-of-4.
Joining Wagner among the Cabrini leaders was Smith, who had eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. At one point in the closing moments of the game, Smith was fouled and driven to the floor. He got up pumping his fist and then pumped in a pair of free-throws to help seal the deal.
Cabrini ran nine players on and off the floor all night and they all contributed.
Ball finished with 10 points, Tony Bertani had eight points and Sean David had five.
For Summit, which did not have a senior on its roster, sophomore Cory Hicks had 14 points, junior Horvath had 13 and Jesse Junior Jesse Brown had 12.
Cabrini, which has won 12 of its last 13 games, will face Trenton Friday night a 7 p.m. with the district title on the line.
BOYS' BASKETBALL: Cabrini outlasts Summit in district semis
Cabrini found itself in a heart-pounding down-to-the-wire battle with the Dragons and didn’t blink, coming away with a 57-51 victory.
“That’s the thing about this team.” said Coach Mark Shea. “When things get frenetic, they are at their best.
“I think at those times they just play and let the game come to them. They have good basketball instincts and they’ve played together a long, long time.”
Most of this team has played together since the fifth and sixth grade, according to Shea.
The Monarchs used good free-throw shooting to beat Grosse Ile in Monday’s first-round game and they put those skills to work again Wednesday.
Cabrini was just 12-for-20 from the line Wednesday, but hit seven of those in the fourth quarter.
Andrew Smith, Ian Wagner and Michael Ball all connected from the stripe in the final minute as the Monarchs held the frantic Dragons at bay.
The game threatened to get away from Shea’s team several times.
Summit led 15-9 at the end of the first period and a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter pushed the Summit lead to nine before Ball hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it 39-33 at the end of three periods.
More bombs helped the Monarchs get back in front.
Wagner, who wound up the game’s leading scorer, had five long balls in the game and three of them came in the fourth quarter. His triple at 6:23 of the fourth erased the last of what was Summit’s lead.
From there, the game went back-and-forth until the final minute.
Summit’s last lead was 49-48 and it came on a Blake Horvath lay-up with 2:17 to play in the game.
With 1:35 to play. Wagner again hit from beyond the arc to give Cabrini a 51-49 lead and the Monarchs would never again lose it.
In the final minute, Cabrini was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and Summit was 2-of-4.
Joining Wagner among the Cabrini leaders was Smith, who had eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. At one point in the closing moments of the game, Smith was fouled and driven to the floor. He got up pumping his fist and then pumped in a pair of free-throws to help seal the deal.
Cabrini ran nine players on and off the floor all night and they all contributed.
Ball finished with 10 points, Tony Bertani had eight points and Sean David had five.
For Summit, which did not have a senior on its roster, sophomore Cory Hicks had 14 points, junior Horvath had 13 and Jesse Junior Jesse Brown had 12.
Cabrini, which has won 12 of its last 13 games, will face Trenton Friday night a 7 p.m. with the district title on the line.
Last Updated: 3/7/2013 12:31:33 PM EST