February | 2013 | McClelland Miscellanea

Monthly Archives: February 2013

February 3, 2013 · 9:31 pm

St. John’s Prep hangs on to defeat Central Catholic 55-52

Tyler Dooley (12 points) finishes a layup

Tyler Nelson (10 points) defended by Drex Costello (13 points)

(Danvers) St. John’s Prep never trailed in this one.

St. John’s Prep had a 14-point lead (46-32) in the third quarter and an 11-point lead (53-42) in the last quarter.

But that all being said, St. John’s had to hang on for dear life to defeat Central Catholic, 55-52, on Sunday afternoon before a full house at the Prep.

After the Eagles (15-1) put that 53-42 lead in place with four minutes left in the game, the Raiders (13-3) ran off ten straight points. That streak of offense got Central Catholic to within a point (53-52) with thirty-eight seconds left.

A St. John’s turnover (they had four in the quarter) followed (five second violation) and the Eagles miscue gave CC plenty of time (twenty-six seconds) to complete the comeback.

Nick Cambio (with the ball) just before the final Central Catholic turnover

But the Raiders didn’t get there. They turned the ball over on their next possession (Drex Costello steal) and Drex made a free throw. They recorded another turnover on their second possession (bad pass Nick Cambio) and Ben Judson made a free throw with less than a second left to finish the scoring.

If St. John’s had lost this game it would have been because of poor foul shooting. The final quarter was a nightmare at the line for the Eagles. Granted, there was plenty of pressure, but when you make only two-of-seven free throws after you have an eleven-point lead with four minutes left, you’re asking for trouble. And to top it off, two of those misses were on the front end of one-and-one’s!

The Eagles jumped on the Raiders right from the start with seven unanswered points (jumpers by Drex Costello and Josh Syska followed by a Tyler Dooley three) in the first 2 ½ minutes.

Joel Berroa, Nick Cambio, Lucas Hammel, and Jamahl Lopez

Early in the second quarter, Central Catholic ran six straight (two layups Nick Cambio and two free throws Tyler Nelson) to pull within two (18-16).

The Eagles came right back with six of their own on layups (Drex Costello, Max Butterbrodt, and Jake Burt off a steal) to get that eight-point lead back, 24-16.

St. John’s had a 32-24 halftime edge.

The Eagles pushed their advantage, in the third quarter, to 40-26 and later 46-32 before the Raiders rallied with six unanswered (two free throws Nick Cambio and two layups Tyler Nelson and Joel Berroa) to lower their deficit to eight (46-38) after three periods.

St. John’s was back in the double-digit comfort zone, 53-42, in the final quarter with four minutes left before the Raiders made the run that nearly stole this one from the Eagles.

Tyler Nelson hits the floor

Joel Berroa (18 points) and Nick Cambio (14 points) led the CC scorers.

Drex Costello (13 points) and Tyler Dooley were the top point-getters for the Eagles.

Prep seniors Drex Costello, Josh Syska, and Tyler Dooley were honored before the game. That trio had plenty to do with the Eagles’ win.

A big play by Central Catholic late in the game was a shot block by Nick Cambio of Max Burt’s layup attempt in the last minute.

The two teams will meet again at Central Catholic on February 17th. That could well be worth seeing!

Despite the loss, Coach Rick Nault (seventh year) has a remarkable win/loss record of 149-19.

The Eagles are lacking the Pat Connaughton-type big stars and so hadn’t gathered much respect before this game. This win should change all that.

Jamahl Lopez defends Tyler Dooley

A great matchup to watch was between the two point guards – Tyler Dooley and Jamahl Lopez. Contact was plentiful!

CC was fourteen-for-fourteen from the foul line.

Max Butterbrodt had a nine-point second quarter for St. John’s.

Central Catholic was missing 6-8 Andrew Hamel.

St. John’s Boxscore

Central Catholic Boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Tyler Dooley

Max Butterbrodt (#42) had nine points in the second quarter

Central Catholic cheerleaders

Eagles student section

Seniors Tyler Dooley and Josh Syska leave the court happy

Joel Berroa heads for the hoop

Pentucket defeats Masconomet 44-43 in overtime as Tess Nogueira gets twenty points

Tess Nogueira (20 points) drives on Claudia Marsh

(West Newbury) It is not often that you see two good teams have so much trouble shooting and taking care of the ball.

But those on hand at Pentucket High School saw a night full of misfiring and mishandles before the Sachems (15-1) eked out a, 44-43, overtime win over Masconomet (11-3) on Friday night in Cape Ann League action.

Tess Nogueira made ten free throws in fourteen attempts

No question the key to the Pentucket win was the steady play of Tess Nogueira. The 6-foot senior led all scorers with twenty points and owned the boards.

Masco had Pentucket on the ropes (40-36 with 1:11 left) in regulation. However, a Tess Nogueira offensive rebound and two Chieftain turnovers opened the door for the Sachems to get back and get overtime.

The four-minute overtime fit perfectly into the pattern established in regulation – missed opportunities galore. Masco didn’t make any shot until the final buzzer!

Kelsi McNamara missed two free throws with 2 ½ minutes remaining in OT. However, Tess Nogueira made two with 1:02 to go and Pentucket had a 42-40 lead.

Nicole Femino (14 points) about to launch a buzzer-beating three in overtime

Nicole Femino (14 points) then missed both free throws with forty-three seconds left but a Pentucket turnover gave Masco another chance with fourteen seconds left.

However, the visitors messed up the inbounds pass (Tess was in the vicinity of where the pass went) and now the Chieftains were forced to foul (Kelsi McNamara) with 7.7 seconds left. Kelsi had missed two earlier in OT but this time she connected twice to give the Sachems a four-point advantage.

Good thing, for Pentucket, that Kelsi made both of them because Nicole Femino tossed in a buzzer-beating three.

Hannah Kiernan blocks the shot of Kelsi McNamara

It is easy to harp on the poor shooting and turnovers and forget that both teams are loaded with tireless defenders. In a gym that is always tropical, the wear-and-tear of facing game-long Pentucket pressure will usually cause trouble. By my count, the Chieftains had thirty turnovers.

Another factor in the Masco loss was Claudia Marsh getting into foul trouble. Claudia picked up her third foul late in the first half and fouled out late in the game. Her strong defense on Tess Nogueira was sorely missed for many minutes. Claudia scored a basket at the buzzer to end the third quarter.

There were ten lead changes and neither team was able to get ahead by more than four points.

Meghan Collins and Kate Kitsakos connected on consecutive three’s in the fourth quarter.

Kassidy Kennefick gets into the lane

Kassidy Kennefick came off the Sachem bench in the first quarter to hit a quick long one.

One of the biggest baskets in the game was a jump shot in the lane by McKenna Kilian off a missed Kelsi McNamara shot in the last thirty seconds of regulation.

Pentucket was determined to spread the Masco man-to-man defense and get to the hoop for layups or foul shots. On this night making the layups, under heavy Masco defensive pressure, was difficult. The Sachems did get thirty-four free throws out of attacking the basket and made twenty-two of them. Tess Nogueira was 10-for-14.

This game featured two of the areas most successful coaches. John McNamara in his 7th season with Pentucket is now 149-19. Bob Romeo in his 11th season is 175-51.

John McNamara and Bob Romeo

Pentucket won the first meeting in December with Masco, 45-33.

Pentucket suffered its only loss of the season on January 26th at Hingham against Division 2 Notre Dame. A week earlier, at Pentucket, the Sachems had won.

Masconomet hosts Hamilton-Wenham on Tuesday. Pentucket will visit North Reading on the same day.

Good crowd on hand. We saw some organized Sachem support late in the game.

Pentucket Boxscore

Masconomet Boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below enlarge if you click on them.)