Lake Worth
WEST PALM BEACH — After claiming their first district title a week ago, Cardinal Newman’s boys basketball team continued its run through the playoffs Thursday night.
The Crusaders (23-5) defeated Bell Creek Academy 69-61 in the Region 2-3A quarterfinals and advance to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2016.
“It feels great,” Cardinal Newman head coach Reilly Campbell said. “I’m proud of these guys for getting through it, fighting in a tough environment and getting the win.”
The Crusaders found success spreading the ball around and were led by a collective offensive effort in which four players
Toney Collins led the night in scoring, dropping 17 points for Wellington. Scoring for Lake Worth (18-9) was led by 11 points each for Hedrens Barthelus, Joseph Rogers and Sean Standifer.
“Even people that didn’t score, everyone on the court did something to help us win,” Standifer said.
When the foes met to battle for the district championship in Trojan territory last Saturday, Wellington came just 3 points shy of reclaiming the title after coming back from trailing by 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Thursday’s matchup was a far cry from the prior weekend.
Precise passing between the Wolverines — including a 3-pointer from junior Jeremy Tovar for a 26-24 lead in the second quarter — almost exclusively kept the crew ahead until a 3-pointer by Bartelus swiped the lead for Lake Worth with 1:19 left in regulation.
“It’s tough to play teams back-to-back … it feels like an NBA series almost,” Baxley said. “We’re very familiar. We knew they were going to make adjustments and that we can’t come out with the exact same game plan.”
“We knew they were going to play us tough.”
For the Trojans, this week’s practice mantras on finishing plays, whether free throws or layups, paid off at crunch time.
After a traveling violation for Lake Worth, up 47-46, the ball was back in Wellington’s hands with 30.7 seconds on the clock. Yet, when the whistle blew for the play to begin, confused faces on Wellington players signaled the beginning of the end. The miscommunication cost 15 seconds which could have meant a different outcome for the Wolverines.
Meanwhile, what was going through Standifer’s mind as the Trojans led by scored in double digits.
Junior Max Redmon led the Crusaders with 17 points, including a 9-point outburst in the fourth quarter that helped secure the victory. Senior Jermaine Council finished with 14 points, while senior guard Joe Duran and junior L.T. Noegel both contributed 10 points.
“I think we’re hard to prepare for and hard to guard because it’s not just one guy contributing,” Campbell said. “We had a really good rebounding and shooting effort. We had really good passing and on-ball defense. We did well in four different phases of the game, and I think multiple different guys took the charge in those areas for us.”
Cardinal Newman jumped out to an early lead, but several first-quarter turnovers by both sides allowed Bell Creek to just a point wasn’t the pressure of winor-go home but “just listening to coach.”
“When you go in, you want to make sure you’re not lost. You want to make sure when you go in that you know what you’re doing and what everyone else is doing so you can help them if they weren’t paying attention,” Standifer said.
A Wellington foul sent Lake Worth’s Rogers to the free-throw line to deliver the final nail. The senior locked it up, going 2-for-2, and the ticket to the second round was punched with time no longer a resource for Wellington.
Who are game-changers for Lake Worth moving forward?
Now, Lake Worth moves on in hopes of avenging last year’s shocking semifinal loss to Oak Ridge. The Pioneers made the trip to Palm Beach County for a 64-49 keep the Crusaders’ lead at 16-15 heading into the second.
Thanks to a 7-point contribution by Noegel in the second quarter, Cardinal Newman extended their lead to 32-24 heading into halftime after spending all but 30 seconds of the first half in the lead.
Bell Creek, however, made adjustments and came out of the intermission firing. The Panthers went on a 14-5 scoring run to start the second half, snatching away the lead after trailing for much of regulation. The Crusaders clawed their way back, but a buzzer-beating layup by the Panthers slimmed their lead to 45-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
Leading by a single point, Cardinal Newman continued to spread the ball around. Council started off by sinking a 3-pointer, and with a 9-point fourth win that halted the Trojans from heading back to the final four.
Baxley feels better about the haul knowing that Standifer is back on the floor for as the team moves forward in playoffs.
“Sean does so many great things for us. He’s a three-level guy,” Baxley said. “With him, it kind of gets everyone else off the space, because if we don’t have Sean, they can kind of pack it in on us and our shooting goes way down.”
After a ligament injury forced him to wear a boot for about three weeks and sit out seven games — including Wellington’s 59-54 regular-season win over the Trojans on Jan. 26 — the junior came off injured reserve for last week’s district finale.
“It really sucked not being able to play with my team, help them win. Coming back when I did though, it was good quarter by Redmon, by the two-minute mark, the Crusaders had extended their lead back to 58-50.
Despite a last-minute push by the Panthers, Cardinal Newman held on in the final minutes to earn their second regional semifinal appearance in the past three years.
“We were in a dogfight. They punched, we punched back” Campbell said. “I think it says a lot about our guys’ ability to stick to it even in tough times and play one possession at a time.”
Cardinal Newman will travel to Orlando to take on Windermere Prep (21-7) in a regional semifinal on Tuesday night.
“Excited to be here,” Campbell said. “We have to defend a little better and continue to rebound and shoot well. Keep doing the things we do well.”
helping get the title and move on to hopefully get the next title,” Standifer said.
On Thursday, Standifer showed off on offense in the first half to lead the game with 11 points at halftime, saving his best defense for later to help Lake Worth limit his former teammates to just 4 points in the fourth quarter.
Standifer joined Lake Worth’s roster ahead of this season after spending his freshman and sophomore years at Wellington, and it could be argued that the desire for bragging rights is what has edged the Trojans ahead in the past week.
Not in Standifer’s eyes, though. “Playing against my old team doesn’t really mean anything right now,” Standifer said. “We’re just looking forward to moving forward.”
“Sean makes other guys play honest. They have to guard him,” Baxley said.
“It’s a great feeling to have him back on the floor,” Barthelus said of his teammate. “He helps us spread the floor. He’s a playmaker. He finishes at the rim and makes free throws, and he plays defense.”
“It’s a lot. It’s a big package that came in with him.”
However, Lake Worth’s biggest gamechanger this postseason will be junior Chasion Wilson, according to Baxley.
The 6-foot-6 junior guard and forward, along with 6-foot-8 senior power forward Jeremy Innocent, helped the Trojans keep it close from quarter to quarter with big-time blocks and steals.
Baxley was almost at a loss for words on how to describe the young player.
“Chase has so much potential. His ceiling is so high,” Baxley said. “I told him that for us to advance, he’s the X-factor for us because he’s the extra guy — that athlete we need to be tough.”
“With him coming along, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Emilee Smarr is a reporter for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.