The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Living Another Knight
Notre Dame holds off Cross, reaches tourney semifinals
BRANFORD — The play went to Kwane Taylor, who let fly with the three-point shot as the buzzer was sounding.
Whether or not the tying 3-point shot would have counted or not can be debated forever. Cross coach Kevin Walton had elected to call for timeout about a second before Taylor got the ball and the shot off.
“To me, they stopped playing (after the whistle) and he hit the shot,” Walton said. “We told the kids to go, but we (the coaches) said if we don’t see something we will quickly call for timeout. So I was trying to get the timeout with 2 seconds left. They blew the whistle and gave us 0.8. The call was from the bench.”
The Governors’ next shot to tie the game came up well short. No. 8 seed Notre Dame-West Haven knocked off the top seed Wilbur Cross 59-56 Saturday at Branford High in the SCC tournament quarterfinals.
“Hindsight is 20-20. We had to (call timeout) because it (the play) was discombobulated,” Walton said. “If you want to lay the blame at my feet for calling the timeout, with 2 seconds left versus what happened for the 31 minutes and 58 seconds, that’s fine.”
Said Notre Dame coach Jason Shea: “I thought the shot was after the horn anyway and I thought the game was over. I did hear a whistle, I didn’t know what it was for.”
Jaiden Kimbro hit five of six free throws in the final 16 seconds for Notre Dame, including the final two with 3.5 seconds left to provide the final margin of victory.
Notre Dame (16-6) and Wilbur Cross (18-3) played two close, drag-itout clashes during the regular season. Cross won both, helping the squad earn the top seed in the 14-team field.
“The difference in this game was we completed for 32 minutes,” Shea
said. “In both (regularseason) games, we had to come back from double digits down and got the lead in both games with under 30 seconds left.”
The Green Knights held a 49-42 lead with 2:22 left, but Cross kept battling back to set up the game’s final seconds. Zach Laput led Notre Dame with 15 points while Will Antrum led Cross with 20 points.
“We beat a talented, well-coached team. They do a good job,” Shea said about Cross. “They play very physical. To win that game in that environment, that’s going to be the environment every night in these (postseason) games. That’s a testament to our guys. We had 10 days to prepare for this tournament and we got better.”
Five players fouled out of the game.
No. 2 Guilford 49, No. 7 Career 47: Sam Dombroski and Matt Donaher both scored 12 points to help Guilford reach the SCC semifinals for the second time in program history.
The Indians (20-1) and Panthers (13-9) were tied at 33 through three quarters. Guilford then went on a 13-3 run, one that lasted close to 7 minutes, to take a 10-point lead (46-36).
“Early in the fourth quarter, we were able to stretch the lead a little bit and breathe a little bit,” Guilford coach Jeff DeMaio said. “I’m impressed with the poise of our kids. Having seniors help and we have four of them out on the court.”
Career managed to stick around late thanks to 10 missed free throws by the Indians in the final quarter (12 of 29 overall). Kyle Daniels led the Panthers with 15 points.
Guilford’s last appearance in the semis was in 2002. Monday night’s game against Hamden will be Guilford’s first in the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
“It’s a huge step for the program, being considered in the conversation with the teams that are always there. It’s a big deal for these guys,” DeMaio said.
No. 4 Hillhouse 48, No. 5 Xavier 35: Davon Warner led the way with 16 points for Hillhouse, which advanced to the SCC tournament semifinals for the 17th straight season.
The defending champion Academics (16-6) now face Notre Dame in the semifinals, a rematch of last year’s final. That game will be played at 7:45 p.m. Monday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
Xavier (13-9) has now lost its last 11 SCC tournament quarterfinal games since winning the title back in 2005. Xavier and Hillhouse split during the season, by a combined four points.
Xavier held a 19-12 lead late in the first quarter.Then Hillhouse went on a 30-8 run that lasted until there was just over 2 minutes left in the game - all told, a 15-minute stretch.
Hillhouse was able to lock down junior guard Jackson Benigni — Xavier’s leading scorer — to just 10 points.
No. 3 Hamden 67, No. 6 Amity 51: Jaylen Ricks led the way with 19 points as Hamden advanced to the semis for the first time since 2015.
Victor Rosario added 16 points and Ronnie Ellis 13 for the Green Dragons (19-3). Tyler Thomas had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Spartans (16-6) while Jack Nolan added 13.