St. Joseph's Advances to State Final
SPRINGFIELD, Mass — The St. Joseph's Crusaders looked to be in trouble as they headed into the locker room down 34-27 to Whitinsville Christian after the first half of the Division 3 State Semifinal game on Tuesday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.
The Crusaders came out in the third quarter ready to play as the team started a 7-2 run to put the score at 36-34 with just two minutes gone in the quarter. St. Joe's then grabbed their first lead of the game after a few quick lay-ups by senior Joe Wiggins but Whitinsville answered back with a big three with 50 seconds left in the quarter and regained the lead 47-45 going into the fourth.
St. Joseph's kept fighting in the fourth but things weren't looking good when Whitinsville banged a huge three and pushed their lead to five points with a little over three minutes left in the game.
"We kept drilling it to them in the last minutes of the game. Don't give up. Don't give up. This is still a ball game. Down by five, it was still a two possesion game" said Coach Paul Brindle.
The players listened and kept fighting as they made three straight stops and with a minute and forty left on the clock senior Mike McMahon was at the line for a one and one. McMahon sank both shots and cut the lead to three. On Whitinsville's next possession they turned the ball over and fouled junior Mike Carpenter. He went to the line facing a one and one and knocked down both to make cut the lead to just one, 59-58, with 23.7 to go on the clock.
With the shot clock off the Crusaders were forced to foul which sent Whitinsville to the line for their own chance at a one and one. The first shot rimmed out and St. Joe's got the ball back. Mike McMahon missed on a lay up attempt but corralled the rebound and was fouled on his second attempt to score. .jpg)
With 10.6 seconds on the clock McMahon was as cool as could be and drilled both shots to put the Crusaders ahead 60-59. Whitinsville was frantic and turned the ball over while inbounding, giving junior Tank Roberson a chance to insure that a desperation shot would not ruin the Crusaders comeback. His first shot missed but he sank the second and Whitinsville could tie with a two and win with a three. They forced up a highly contested shot that missed long and the buzzer sounded.
Coach Brindle after the game, "For the first time guys, all year, we made foul shots. We made foul shots and we made them at the end." The Crusaders went 9 for 11 from the line in the fourth quarter and it made the difference. They get to keep their dreams of winning a state championship as they move on to play Saturday, time to be determined, at the DCU Center in Worcester for the Division 3 state title against Danvers.
CLICK HERE for pictures from the game.
Coach Brindle after the game, "For the first time guys, all year, we made foul shots. We made foul shots and we made them at the end." The Crusaders went 9 for 11 from the line in the fourth quarter and it made the difference. They get to keep their dreams of winning a state championship as they move on to play Saturday, time to be determined, at the DCU Center in Worcester for the Division 3 state title against Danvers.
CLICK HERE for pictures from the game.