Roman Catholic slips past Archbishop Ryan
There is a fine line between the positivity associated with winning close games and the doubt that follows difficulties closing out an opponent.
There is a fine line between the positivity associated with winning close games and the doubt that follows difficulties closing out an opponent.
Roman Catholic continues to tiptoe precariously close to defeat in Catholic League play before finding a way to win late.
On Wednesday, the Cahillites squandered a double-digit second-half lead yet survived, 55-52, against visiting Archbishop Ryan, thanks in part to a late basket by senior guard Tony Carr.
"When you come out with a win, you say, 'All right, good. We learned a lot from it,' " said Roman coach Chris McNesby. "But if you lose, you're like, 'Practice at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning.' "
Lamar Stevens led all scorers with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Nazeer Bostick added 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked three shots. Carr finished with 13 points and five assists, though he shot just 1 of 6 from the foul line.
On Tuesday night, the Cahillites (13-4, 5-2) struggled to put away La Salle before prevailing in overtime.
Poor Roman free-throw shooting combined with Ryan McTamney's late three-pointer helped the Explorers force the extra frame.
Ryan's Austin Chabot (nine points) nearly claimed victory for the Raiders (10-6, 3-4), which took a 50-49 lead after the senior forward's deep three-pointer with 45 seconds remaining. Ryan had trailed, 36-25, midway through the third quarter after trailing, 27-21, at the half.
Immediately after Chabot's three, Carr dribbled into the frontcourt, crossed over his defender, and banked in an eight-foot floater on the left side, opposite Roman's bench, with about 30 seconds left.
"It's just perseverance," Carr said. "Things won't always go our way. I've been missing free throws down the stretch lately. I have to get better with that for sure. But every night in the Catholic League is a tough night. Everybody's giving us their best shot, so we're just trying to find a way to win down the stretch every night."
Austin Slawter, who scored 9 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, missed a jumper on Ryan's ensuing possession. Bostick (8 of 9 at the line) made it 53-50 with two freebies with 6.8 seconds left.
Ryan's Izaiah Brockington (12 points) was fouled deliberately with 3.3 seconds left, perhaps to avoid another game-tying three.
Brockington made both foul shots. Bostick added two more at the line and Chris Palantino's desperate, fading heave near Ryan's bench was off at the buzzer.
Roman Catholic 13 14 11 17 - 55
Archbishop Ryan 17 4 10 21 - 52
RC: Tony Carr 13, Lamar Stevens 19, Nazeer Bostick 16, D'Andre Vilmar 2, Paul Newman 1, J.P. Sanders 2, Dakquan Davis 2.
AR: Austin Slawter 16, Izaiah Brockington 12, Matiss Kulackovskis 13, Austin Chabot 9, Fred Taylor 2.
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