CM able to get what it wants
Knights defeat Reading for title
Reading rallied within 5 points late in the fourth quarter last night, but Catholic Memorial quickly doused the spark with a bevy of baskets to earn the Division 2 EMass boys' basketball championship at TD Banknorth Garden, 74-61.
It was the second trip to the Garden in as many years for the Knights (21-4), who defeated Belmont, 68-66, in the final last year, before falling to Tantasqua Regional in the state final.
"It was tough leaving last year with a loss, but we had a goal in mind this year to get back to where we were last year, get our ring back," said Catholic Memorial senior Brendan Monteiro, who had a game-high 22 points. "We had to gut this one out."
Reading (15-10) built a 15-8 advantage out of the gate, but the Knights finished the opening quarter on a 6-0 run topped by Julian Colarusso's field goal and led, 22-21, after one. After Nick O'Brien opened the second quarter with a basket that put Reading ahead, 23-22, Catholic Memorial's Nick Edson sandwiched a pair of free throws between two field goals to give Catholic Memorial a 5-point edge.
The Rockets stayed on CM's heels throughout the second quarter. But with less than four minutes left and trailing, 32-29, their 6-foot-8-inch anchor Evan Smotrycz took a seat on the bench after he was charged with his third foul.
After Smotrycz sat down, a pair of free throws brought Reading within 1. But with the Rockets' big man gone, the Knights - whose tallest player is 6-4 - quickly took command and entered halftime on a 10-0 run and led, 44-31. They piled it on from there, leading by as many as 16 in the third quarter and 11 with about six minutes to play.
Reading coach Paul Morrissey said that although Smotrycz's absence hurt his team offensively, giving up key possessions hurt the most.
"We had some turnovers that we really shouldn't have committed with Evan on the floor or not," he said. "That hurt us offensively, but we shouldn't have turned the ball over like that."
The Rockets wouldn't go quietly, though, as they switched to a zone defense that frustrated the Knights and shook up their shooters. Edson put up 8 of his 12 points in the final quarter, hitting three straight field goals to cut the Knights' lead to 66-59. Smotrycz, who stayed out of foul trouble in the third quarter, added 6 of his 20, including a layup with about 1:30 to go that made it 66-61.
The Knights missed the front end of a one-and-one on the next play, but Colarusso stole the rebound and made the layup to knock the steam out of Reading's comeback. Catholic Memorial piled on 6 more points to stay in control.
Morrissey said he was proud of his players' performance after entering the Div. 2 North sectionals seeded 10th at 11-9.
"Especially after the first half, I'm sure people in the crowd were saying, 'It's going to be a blowout,' " he said. "It's a 5-point game with a minute and a half left. We've got nothing to hang our heads about, that's for sure."
Catholic Memorial will play in the state final at Worcester's DCU Arena Saturday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Western Mass. championship between Tantasqua and South Hadley, which is today at the Mullins Center at UMass.
