Colin Richey (15 points)
Hans Miersma (15 points)
Taylor Bajema (24 points)
The Crusaders made twelve 3’s including this one by Colin Richey.
(Worcester) Whitinsville Christian took the buck out of the Keefe Tech Broncos in the first four minutes and advanced to the Central Division 3 finals with a, 87-38, rout on Monday night at WPI.
The Crusaders smothered Keefe Tech on defense and hit them from just about anywhere on offense.
#2 seed Whitinsville (20-2) now gets to play #1 seed Quaboag (22-2) for the Central D3 title on Saturday afternoon (3:30PM) at Fitchburg State.
From what I saw today, Quaboag better bring their A+ game to Fitchburg to be competitive. If size means anything, Whitinsville has one player UNDER six feet while Quaboag has three players OVER six feet with the tallest listed at (6‘1“).
Keefe Tech (18-3) took a 3-2 lead on Jose Morales’ 3-pointer. After that the Crusaders collected sixteen points in their next eight possessions while the Broncos had three turnovers and five one-and-done’s. This put Whitinsville ahead, 18-3, four minutes into the game.
Whitinsville usual scorers showed early as Hans Miersma (15 points) converted an offensive rebound, Colin Richey (15 points) drove the length of the court, and Taylor Bajema (24 points) hit a couple of 3’s, a layup and two free throws. The Broncos never could come up with defensive answers for this talented threesome.
Peter Koopman’s three at the very end of the first quarter started the Crusaders on a 15-3 segment. This time the damage was done again by Hans (old-fashioned 3), Colin (coast-to-coast layup), and Taylor (jumper and a 3). That put things at 37-13 with 3:25 left in the first half.
Taylor Bajema and Hans Miersma on defense.
And when you thought that things couldn’t get worse for the team from Framingham the Crusaders scored the last four points in the first half (led 45-19) and the first eighteen points in the second half. That’s a 22-point run.
Highlighting that stretch were three 3’s by Colin and one by Taylor. Up 63-19, the Whitinsville starters were benched for the last 1 ½ quarters.
The Crusader reserves held their own the rest of the way. Big cheers went up from the sizable Whitinsville crowd on late-game three’s by Eric Monroe, Grant Brown, and Aaron Colonero.
Keefe Tech’s strategy appeared to be to zone to protect against 6-9 Hans down low and take their chances on the Crusaders’ outside shooting. On this night that strategy was a disaster as Whitinsville was a blistering 12-for-18 from long range.
Brandon Morales led beleaguered Keefe Tech with nine points.
Taylor (6’4” senior) was deadly from the outside and was also able to slice his way through the Keefe Tech zone to the rim.
Colin (6’2” sophomore) had several full-court drives as well as three 3-pointers and was a very alert passer in the Crusaders’ half-court offense.
Hans (6’9″ senior) had little room to operate but still scored seven times from in close. He opened the game with the only dunk of the contest taking a super feed from Colin Richey.
The Gordon College coaching staff was on hand to see the Crusaders in action.
McClelland Miscellanea 
