An energized Richie Ashley talks to his Cheverus team during a timeout in Tuesday’s Class AA game. The Stags knocked Gorham from the unbeaten ranks with a 51-37 win. Photo by Steve Craig
Cheverus High guard Sammy Nzeyimana said the game plan was pretty straightforward against Gorham.
“Just press up on them and run them off the 3-point line and that’s what we did and obviously we secured the win,” Nzeyiman said.
Cheverus took control from the jump, never trailed, and then put away an impressive 51-37 Class AA win, knocking Gorham (8-1) from the unbeaten ranks. The Stags, who play in the North division, improved to 9-2 and were glad to be back home after playing seven of eight games on the road.
“We talked about making it a dogfight, making them earn every shot, earn every possession,” said Cheverus Coach Richie Ashley. “This is the first game I can think of this year that we played a complete game.”
Gorham, which averaged 70 points a game while playing six of its first eight games at home, never looked comfortable offensively. The Rams missed their first 16 shots before Ashton Leclerc banked in a layup off an inbound play with 5:36 to play in the second quarter. They were just 2 of 25 from the field in the first half, 12 of 54 overall (22%) and finished the game 4 of 25 (16%) on 3-point attempts. This from a team that made 19 3-pointers against Sanford and got a school-record nine 3s from Leclerc in one game and seven by Caden Smith in another.
“They’re length and physicality is as good as anyone’s,” said Gorham Coach Ryan Deschenes of Cheverus’ defense. “It was their brand of a game, their type of style, and that’s why it went the way it did.”
Smith led Gorham with 16 points and Leclerc scored 13. Gabe Michaud, normally a third option, had three points.
“They did a good job of closing out and our shots just weren’t falling early,” Smith said.
Leo McNabb led the Cheverus attack with 19 points, scoring from the perimeter and also attacking the rim and running the court. He took the assignment of slowing Leclerc to start the game and Shema Rwaganje then took on the role of staying on Gorham’s top shooter. Nzeyimana chipped in eight points.
While Gorham did not have an inside scoring presence, the Cheverus trio of Jameson Fitzpatrick, Rocco Depatsy and Maddik Weisberg combined for 14 points. Depatsy chipped in eight rebounds. Fitzpatrick, a sophomore, had assists from both the high and low post.
Despite its struggles from the field – and trailing 14-2 after a quarter and 24-11 at the half – Gorham did cut the lead to seven at 31-24 midway through the third quarter and both Michaud and Smith had made 3-pointers.
Cheverus halted the run by looking inside. Depatsy scored from McNabb, Fitzpatrick hit a tough reverse layup, and then Fitzpatrick kicked out a pass to freshman Nicola Plalum who made a 3-pointer to push the lead back to a comfortable 38-24 entering the fourth quarter.
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