Comcast Tournament: Charlestown advances on buzzer-beater
Will meet Catholic Memorial in final
Damante Vanheyningen has Charlestown in the Comcast Tournament finals.
With the game tied at 60 and just over a second remaining, Vanheyningen drilled a three-pointer from just inside the logo to give Charlestown a 63-60 win over Needham in the opening round of the IAABO Board 27 Comcast Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Woburn High School.
The Townies (15-2) will face off against No. 2 Catholic Memorial on Monday at 6:45 p.m. in the Mike Hammond bracket final.
With the score even at 60 with just over five seconds remaining, Needham exhausted its pair of fouls to give, forcing Charlestown to inbound the ball in the front court out of a timeout with 1.2 seconds remaining. The Townies looked for point-forward Jaylin Williams-Crawford (17 points, 16 rebounds), but the R-ockets guarded the lob well. That left it up to Vanheyningen, who popped out, caught the ball from just inside half court, and buried a 35-footer.
“We drew up a lob on the side-out but my guard was nervous to throw it so he got it to Damante and Damante just hit a big shot,” Charlestown coach Hugh Coleman said. “It was the result we wanted, but it was not the play we called.”
Led by Brian Cloonan’s 22 first half points, Needham jumped out of the gate and grabbed a 40-32 lead at the break. Charlestown chipped away in the third quarter with Jordany Mak burying three triples to pull the Townies back within 52-48 late in the stanza.
A Jaylen Hunter-Coleman (16 points, 8 assists) threepoint play and a Williams-Crawford put back pushed the Townies in front 57-56 with 4:59 remaining. Charlestown went up two, 60-58, on a triple by Mak but free throws by Chris Morrison tied the game and set the stage for Vanheyningen’s buzzer-beater.
In the second game, Catholic Memorial (16-3) received double figure performances by freshman guards Aiden Pires and Josiah Adamson to defeat Central Catholic, 63-55.
Pires (18 points) and Adamson (14 points) were joined by senior Ryan Higgins (12 points) to lead the Knights attack. Raiders forward John Kelley led all scorers with 22 points.
The Knights grabbed a double digit lead early in the second quarter, but eight points from Javi Lopez and 12 from Kelley got the Raiders within 46-44 late in the third quarter. Adamson, however, drilled a three-pointer at the top of the key to start the fourth. Then Higgins hit a pullup and DJ Overall connected in the lane to push the Knights lead up to 57-48 with four minutes remaining.
Consecutive treys by Pires put the game firmly out of reach.