Fairfield Prep outlasts Wilbur Cross to reach semis
MILFORD — It’s never easy to beat a team three times in a season as the old saying goes.
Fairfield Prep had its work cut out trying to eliminate Wilbur Cross from the SCC tournament field. But the Jesuits accomplished it on Saturday afternoon in the most important of the three games.
No. 2 seed Fairfield Prep defeated No. 7 Wilbur Cross 76-63 at Lauralton Hall in the SCC tournament quarterfinals, Lauralton was one of Prep’s home sites used this season while Alumni Hall at Fairfield University, its normal home site, is being renovated.
“It would mean the world (to win an SCC championship). “We work hard in practice every single ay. It would mean a lot to us,” Fairfield Prep’s Tommy Scholl said.
Prep (18-3) will face No. 3 seed Hand in the SCC semifinals Monday night at the Floyd Little Athletic Center. Game time is at 7:45 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two teams
“Hand is a tremendous team. It will be a battle. That’s the way it should be in the SCC semifinals,” Fairfield Prep coach Mike Papale said.
Top seed Notre DameWest Haven and No. 5 West Haven will meet for the third time in the other semifinal at 6 p.m. Notre Dame won both regularseason meetings.
This is the first time in the history of the Southern Connecticut Conference boys basketball tournament that a New Haven school did not reach the semifinals.
Max Manjos (24 points) and Scholl (23) combined for 47 of Prep’s 76 points. Scholl scored 19 in the second half.
“I think I had to be a little more aggressive,” Scholl said. “I’m always looking for my teammates. I decided to get some baskets. … We knew how bad they wanted it. We just wanted it more.”
Wilbur Cross (12-9), which won the SCC tournament in both 2019 and 2020, was close for most of the game and was tied a couple of times. But the Governors held just in one lead, 25-24, with 2:41 to go in the second quarter.
The turning point came near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Prep led 55-50 when Cross guard Fredo Delgado picked up his fourth foul with 4:42 left. He stayed in the game. John Petrafesa made two free throws to make it 5750.
Delgado fouled out on a charge call 7 seconds later. Then a bench warning was whistled on Cross.
“It’s a tough part of the game. We didn’t take him out, it was a judgment call,” Wilbur Cross coach Kevin Walton said. We trusted he could make a play. We thought he made a play and I didn’t agree with the call.”
Said Papale: “We practice a ton on weakside defense. We like our guys to be there, to step in and take it. We do it a ton in practice and do it a ton in games. Sometimes it is a block, sometimes it is a charge. Tonight, we got more charges than blocks. We take a lot of pride in taking them.”
Scholl knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 60-50. Then the collective frustration from the Governors’ began to build.
That frustration boiled over when Elijah JeanGuillaume fouled out on an offensive foul near midcourt. Walton was then slapped with a technical foul. This all happened with 2:50 left.
“Refs are reffing teams, not games, super frustrating every game have to tell our kids to fight through it. I’m not making this stuff up. People will tell you games are not being called fairly,” said Walton. “Fairfield Prep is a good team. They don’t need any help got a lot of help today.”
After the made free throws, Prep led 70-54.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tommy Scholl, Fairfield Prep: scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half for the Jesuits.
QUOTABLE
“We don’t talk a ton about making and missing shots. It’s more about, how good our defense is, how good we are boxing out, 50-50 balls, stuff like that. We happened to win all three games. It very easily could have gone the other way all three times.”
— Fairfield Prep coach Mike Papale