Jack Casale made his first varsity basketball game one to remember.

Casale, a sophomore, hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points to spark Cheverus to a 63-56 win over Windham on the opening night of high school basketball in the state.

Austin Boudreau, another sophomore, sank 9 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to keep the Stags in front. Boudreau finished with a team-high 19 points.

Cheverus held Windham scoreless for a 3-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. Cheverus hit six from the line to extend a two-point lead to eight.

“We kind of slugged it out tonight,” said Cheverus Coach Dan Costigan. “Windham is a good team. They’re going to win their share of games.

“This is a very balanced league. After five games, you might have an idea of who’s good in the league, but until then, no one knows.”

Advertisement

Costigan was impressed with Casale’s varsity debut.

“He can really stroke it. It’s one thing to shoot in a summer league game like that, but it’s something else to shoot in an SMAA game like that,” said Costigan.

Casale played on the freshman team a year ago but practiced with the varsity. Asked about the difference from his games last year and his varsity debut, Casale said: “It’s a lot faster. My teammates got me open and the coach has given me free reign to shoot it.

“We played great team defense.”

Cheverus had the edge inside with 6-foot-5 Zordan Holman, and Boudreau controlling the tempo, particularly in the fourth quarter. Boudreau played on the varsity team as a freshman.

“We have complete confidence in him,” said Casale.

Advertisement

The Eagles stayed close enough to make it interesting. Kevin Weisser, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit a 3 to cut it to 59-56 with 18 seconds left. With Boudreau in possession of the ball, the Eagles were forced to foul him. He went 4 for 4 in the final 17 seconds.

The game was close throughout. Windham led 18-15 after one quarter. Cheverus outscored the Eagles 18-12 in the second quarter to lead 33-30. Markus D’Andrea cut it to three points at intermission when he made a three-quarter-court shot.

Weisser, a 6-foot-4 senior, scored the first four points of the third quarter to put Windham in front, but the Stags then went on a 12-3 run to lead by eight. Casale started the run by hitting two straight 3s. Derek Hammond finished it with a three-point play in transition.

The Eagles closed it to 45-42 after three quarters, as Weisser made a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and Kyle Kilfoil scored a layup on a break off a nice feed from D’Andrea, the point guard.

But mistakes proved costly for the Eagles.

“We didn’t take care of the basketball and we didn’t execute our offense,” said Windham Coach Kevin Millington. “The other thing that hurt us was the fact we ended quarters well, but got off to slow starts at the beginning of quarters.

“Kevin scored 21 points, but Cheverus made him work for it. They were more physical than we expected.”

Holman finished 13 points and was a force underneath. Hammond added 11 points.

D’Andrea scored 13 for Windham.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.