Hoops: Marsden Magic (The Sequel)
boys' basketball > division 1 north semifinal
No. 4 Central Catholic 74, No. 1 Charlestown 63 (OT)
READING -- History suggested Central Catholic sophomores could make big plays in the clutch inside Hawkes Fieldhouse, so maybe it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Raiders coach Ricky Nault drew up a last-second, season-saving play to go to Carson Desrosiers Tuesday night.
With Central trailing top-seeded Charlestown by two with 2.1 seconds remaining, Desrosiers took a inbounds pass from fellow big man Adrian Gonzalez and banked home a turnaround in the lane to force overtime where the fourth-seeded Raiders motored away for a thrilling 74-63 triumph.
The Raiders advanced to Saturday's sectional final to meet the winner of Wednesday's Everett-Lowell tilt at Tsongas Arena.
One year after then-sophomore Billy Marsden threw his own coming out party by scoring the final seven points in the Raiders' upset of then-top-seeded Lexington in the same round of the tournament, Desrosiers punctuated Central's rally from a 16-point deficit with his last-second hoop.
In fact, the Raiders didn't lead all night until Adrian Gonzalez produced the first basket of overtime for a 62-60 advantage. Central scored the first 13 points of the extra frame before a trash-time 3-pointer with seven seconds to go broke a five-minute scoreless drought for Charlestown.
But none of that would have been possible without Desrosiers's heroics in regulation.
"We just drew it up," Nault said, acknowledging the inbounds play was improvised given Charlestown's foul situation. "We knew they'd just foul it we gave it to a guard. We had to go with a catch and shoot. (Desrosiers)'s 6-9 and he's got a soft touch."
In a game notable for its lack of whistles (the three-man referee crew did a phenomenal job letting the players play) , Charlestown was well under the limit when Central took over with a chance at a final shot with 12.2 seconds to play (this after Shabazz Napier missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation that might have iced the game).
Central needed more than half that time to simply get the ball over halfcourt and, even after one timeout, Charlestown fouled with 2.1 seconds to go when Central captain Wilfredo Pagan tried to accelerate towards the wing.
Nault called for another timeout and drew up the pivotal play. Rallying was the hard part, he figured. Nault never lost faith in his team.
"Two years in a row in this building," he said. "Two very similar games. I had the same feelings late in the game. I knew if we could just get a stop and hit some shots we could get back in this.
"Billy hit some big shots."
That might have been an understatement. Marsden, who wasn't directly involved in the game's most influential play (he ran traffic away from Desrosiers, freeing him up inside), poured in a game-high 30 points, 22 of which came in the second half and overtime.
The junior guard took over in the third quarter as he poured in 13 of the Raiders' 15 points in that frame and helped ignite the furious comeback.
After Desrosiers forced the extra frame, Marsden went back to work by scoring nine points in overtime, including a dagger of a 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining that put his team on top, 69-60. He added four clutch freebies to seal it before Central emptied its bench for the final 20 seconds.
Desrosiers finished with 16 points, while Gonzalez -- still nursing that strained oblique that has bothered him all season -- chipped in 10 of his 14 points after the first half.
Greg Hackett paced Charlestown with 18 points, while Napier added 15 off the bench.
The Townies opened the game on a 10-2 run and led 25-14 after the first quarter. A 3-pointer by Charlie Haymon had the Townies out front, 30-14, early in the second quarter and threatening to make this a laugher. Central trimmed its deficit to six before the intermission (34-28) and five after three quarters (48-43).
So Mr. Nault, any thoughts about utilizing Hawkes Fieldhouse as the Raiders' home court in the future?
"We're 2-0 here and beat two top seeds," he said with a big smile. "But we were undefeated at home this year, too. I like our home court."
Great job with the blog! Two keys to the game. First, Rick Nault's decision to go zone after a rough first period. After Charlestown scored 25 points in the first quarter, Central held them to 35 for the next three quarters. Second, Carson DesRosiers' presence in the middle took Charlestown completely out of any low post or slashing game. Charlestown lived by the three and, ultimately, died by it. Btw: What happened to the much-touted Charestown press? It never materialized.
Forsberg's response:
Great analysis. Couldn't agree more. I'm wondering if Charlestown's struggles from the outside hampered their ability to get into the press (at least consistently). Even still, the Townies seemed to get a bit too conservative and slowed down the pace late almost hoping to eat up the clock.
DesRosier's defense as the middle man in the 2 - 3 zone was the difference in the game as Charlestown was totally incapable of scoring down low due to DesRosier's shot blocking ability and had to settle for long three attempts. Have not seen the stats but he must have had at least 10 - 12 blocks and altered a similar number of shots.
Forsberg's response:
Charlestown was fighting an uphill battle already given the height it was giving up. Against most teams, they can make up for that in athleticism. But when those 3's weren't falling and they couldn't generate putbacks, they struggled mightily to generate points when they needed them.
I had a push off on the hoop to tie the game......nullify the basket Charlestown wins!
Are athletes grades considered whan the Globe All Scholastics are announced? Or is it based solely on Atheltic excellence?
Forsberg's response:
No grades are not incorporated. Would be impossible for a newspaper to track down accurate grades on every student athlete in the region.
Push off? Are you insane? The game was extremely well officiated!
I was at the game and liked the adjustments made by Coach Nault. The Townies were hitting all their shots in the first quarter but managed only 9 points in the second stanza. Central won the rebounding battle and had better passing. Wilfredo Pagan ran the point for Central against a quick Charlestown guard tandem, and Marsden's shooting was key. In fact, since he had shot so well he drew double coverage on final regulation shot, allowing Desrosiers some room to move inside for an easy two. The overtime period was all Central.
Charlestown should have doubled DesRosiers on the inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds to go. That would have forced a guard to have to break free from the defense & take a long outside shot. The tying basket was way too easy.
If you double down on Carson and contend the inbounds pass by Adrian, you leave two defenders to cover three Central guards, all of whom are good three-point shooters. But why not foul Carson as soon as he touches the ball with one to give? Good point by Gilhooly, Wilfredo played a very steady and nearly mistake-free game against some very quick and athletic Charlestown guards. Once again, a season of MVC wars toughened Central for the tourney. Should be a dandy vs. Lowell as these could very well be the two best teams in the state.
First off let me say kudos to Central Catholic they made all the big plays when they had to but on the same note if you guys were there you would have to admit even with the outstanding play by the Central big man Charlestown still had the game won and the game was decided by the inabiltiy of the Charlestown guards to take good care of the ball in the clutch on 3 straight possesions in the clutch Napier ( who usually is there best decision maker and ball handler) made bad decisions that led to Central being given a second chance instead of being to put them away the Charlestown guards gave the game away I disagree with it being because of the great play of the big man and thats not to take anything away from him he played a hell of a game but that game was under Charlestown control with Marsden playing lights out and the big man playing like a man possesed but with all this said I still take my hat off to Central because they made the plays when they had to which is evident in the fact that Gonzales did nothing for the whole game but when Overtime came he became huge
"In a game notable for its lack of whistles (the three-man referee crew did a phenomenal job letting the players play)"
If you mean lack of whistles against Central Catholic, I guess. They were the ones who were allowed to play while the refs missed many fouls on them. Could have made a difference in such a close game in regulation.
Forsberg's response:
C'mon. The refs played no part in how this game played out. Charlestown could have won if it made its own free throws.
I can't believe you would think the refs had anything to do with this game. Charlestown played a great game and it really wasnt the guards fault they lost, they were the reason that they were in the game, they made lots of plays in the press and shooting threes. The big man in the middle took away any kind of attacking the basket and Charlestown ultimately went down because of that. And about the refs again, funny how you say none were called on Central, considering Charlestown was already in the bonus and Charlestown had fouls to GIVE still before Central was going to be in the bonus. The BETTER team won.
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