Paul VI boys coast in regular-season finale

Tony Devlin was nervous that his Paul VI boys' basketball team might come out flat in its game against Cherry Hill East after a difficult week of games.

His concern was erased after the Eagles, ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, posted a dominating 75-49 home victory over the No. 3 Cougars on Saturday in a nonleague game.

The loss snapped the Cougars' 20-game winning streak.

The final score was not the only large discrepancy in the boxscore.

Paul VI brought down 22 rebounds, and Cherry Hill East managed only 11. East did not record a rebound until 2 minutes, 38 seconds remained in the first quarter.

"We always like to rebound; it's something we focus on," said junior guard Ron Curry, who had four rebounds and 19 points for the Eagles.

Paul VI (23-2) also dominated in shooting, as they went 28 for 50 from the floor, including a blistering 8 for 14 from three-point range.

"Things always go well when you shoot well," Devlin said.

On the other side, East struggled, generating only 37 shots and making 17.

Senior forward Chris Santo led the Cougars with 18 points, despite constant double- and even triple-teaming.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone work so hard for 18 points," Devlin said.

"You need more than two people to stop him. Chris can put up 30 or 40 every night," said Paul VI senior forward Robert Poole, who had 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

"They took us out of how we wanted to play," Santo said. "Today, I didn't do a good job of finding the open guy. I held the ball too long."

East (22-4) brought the game to within five with 4:15 left in the second quarter after capitalizing on two steals by guard Marc Schlesser. The Cougars didn't get any closer than that.

Poole, who had been taken out of the game after picking up two fouls early in the quarter, came back in and scored four of his 16 points in a 6-0 run that expanded the Eagles lead to 11.

The win, the Eagles' fifth straight, ended their regular season and put them in good position as they prepare for the South A tournament.

"This win was great because we all scored and we all came together," Poole said. "In the playoffs, other teams will be keying on one guy, but we have so many weapons so you can't just key on one guy."

"I told the guys if we can survive this week, we can survive anything and be successful in the playoffs," Devlin said.

Cherry Hill East   7 15 15 12 – 49

Paul VI   17 16 21 21 – 75

CHE: Chris Santo 18, Marc Schlessel 12, Dan Melleby 8, Alex Kauth 5, Jake Gurkin 4, Ido Zaken 2.

P: Ron Curry 19, Rob Poole 16, Roosevelt Cubbage 15, Matt Reisse 10, Kris O'Connor 9, Khaaliq Burroughs 4, Ryan Murphy 2.