East Catholic dominates Platt to advance to CCC tournament final
Samson Reilly missed one shot in the first half of the Central Connecticut Conference (CCC) tournament semifinal game Monday afternoon. The ball got stuck between the rim and backboard.
“I forced that one, too,” he said, grinning.
That was his only force. Reilly was 11 for 12 from the field in the first half - including four 3-pointers- and finished with 31 points in East Catholic’s dominating 90-44 victory over Platt at the University of Hartford.
When Reilly quieted down in the second half, his teammate James Jones picked up the slack. Jones, who had eight points in the first half, scored 16 in the third quarter, and ended up with a seasonhigh 30 points.
Top-seeded East Catholic will play Bloomfield, the second semifinal Monday night. The championship game will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. at the University of Hartford.
“I was passing to [Samson] and it was going in every time,” said Jones, who also had four blocks. “It’s great to have Sam on my team. He started slowing down a little bit and I had to pick it up for my teammates. They did a great job getting me open, getting me the ball and running stuff for me. I’m just glad to have them.”
Luke Reilly Jr., East Catholic’s defensive specialist, drew the assignment of guarding Anthony Nimani, Platt’s senior guard who is the school’s all-time leading boys’ scorer. Nimani averages 26 points per game; Luke Reilly Jr. held him to five in the first half and Nimani ended up with 16.
It was Platt’s lowest point total of the season.
“He does that and it goes unsaid but the guys on the bench, his teammates, we go against it every day and we know,” said Samson, Luke’s younger brother.
Samson Reilly hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, to open the game and East Catholic was off and running.
“I made my first two shots and my teammates and coach kept calling plays for me and finding me so kudos to them,” Samson said.
Samson hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and East Catholic led 18-12. The Eagles pushed the lead to 36-19 at the half.
“After our last game we came out sluggish,” Jones said. “We made it an emphasis to come out strong this game and we did that.”
Bloomfield 63, Conard 46:
Bloomfield’s defense and rebounding overwhelmed 15th-seeded Conard, and the Warhawks won in the second semifinal game on Monday night. They’ll advance to face East Catholic in the final on Thursday. The Warhawks got 21 points from Davion Kerr and 18 from Howard Simpson. The title game will pit two defending state champions against each other, as Bloomfield won Division IV last season and East Catholic took home the Division I crown.