WELLESLEY – After a sluggish begin, Catholic Memorial used a dominant second quarter to stretch its lead because of stable protection and the flexibility of 6-foot-3 freshman Josiah Adamson.
The two-seeded Knights put all of it collectively to place away No. 10 Lawrence, 71-56, within the Division 1 quarterfinals at Babson College on Friday. It is CM’s first journey to the boys basketball state semifinals since 2016.
“It feels great,” Catholic Memorial coach Denis Tobin mentioned about advancing to semifinals. “This is what everyone plays for – playing games in March. It doesn’t get any better.”
After a primary quarter that noticed six lead adjustments and 4 ties and an 11-all rating, Catholic Memorial (19-4) began the second on a 23-3 run, together with an 18-0 run that was spurred by protection for the Knights.
“We spent a couple days showing them what to expect out of Lawrence,” mentioned Tobin in regards to the defensive depth within the first half that allowed simply seven discipline targets. “I have a smart team. Sometimes, it doesn’t carry over, but with these guys it does.”
Adamson netted all 13 of his second-quarter factors through the run with a pair thunderous dunks. He completed with a game-high 24 factors and three steals.
“Like every day we work on (our defense),” Adamson mentioned about how arduous coach Tobin pushes them in observe. “We work on it every day. Coach Tobin gives us two bricks and we slide back and forth. We work on taking charges defensively and playing help. It’s just what we worked on.”
With a 39-21 deficit on the half, Lawrence (17-7) saved pushing the Knights on each side of the ball and made it a 39-27 contest with a 6-0 run early within the third. Catholic Memorial saved attacking as junior DJ Overall (4 factors) and junior John Hoenschied (seven factors) got here up huge off the bench to push the lead again out to 55-35 after three.
Freshman Aiden Pires added 15 factors earlier than fouling out within the fourth for the Knights.
For Lawrence, senior Joendy Rosario scored 20 factors, with 15 of these coming within the second half. Senior Obbie Luciano completed with 14.
Next up, Catholic Memorial will face off in opposition to Saturday’s BC High/Franklin winner at a website/date to be decided.
Source: www.bostonherald.com