SCARBOROUGH — Three-pointers are splashy. But there’s still value in good, old, close-to-the-basket efficiency.
The Cheverus High boys basketball team pounded the ball inside and made 70% of its second-half shots to overcome a 14-point second-quarter deficit and take a 59-54 Class AA win at Scarborough on Tuesday.
“We have to go inside. Our man offense is pretty good. Sometimes we struggle against zone, so we’ve got to fix that. But even with zone you have to get the ball inside,” said Cheverus coach Richie Ashley.
The Stags (12-3), No. 2 in Class AA North, crept closer to Windham for the top seed and the lone bye directly to the semifinals at the Cross Insurance Arena on Feb. 20.
Scarborough slipped to 7-8 and is still in fourth in the seven-team South region.
How did it happen?
• In a first half of runs, Cheverus showed it could get easy looks at the rim in the opening minutes and opened an 11-5 lead.
• Scarborough responded with a 22-2 run to take a 29-15 lead with 5:11 left in the first half. Adam Fitzgerald made three 3-pointers, each from further out than the last. Cheverus chipped away with inside looks and finished the half on a 9-0 run to trail 31-24 at the break.
• Cheverus took over in the fourth quarter when it got the ball inside to its center, Jameson Fitzpatrick (13 points) for three baskets. Leo McNabb, the Stags’ senior leader and top scorer, then took over with eight of his game-high 24 points. Cheverus was 14 of 20 from the floor in the second half – 7 of 10 in each quarter.
• After Fitzgerald’s third 3-point basket opened the second-quarter scoring, Scarborough missed 12 consecutive 3-point attempts until Fitzgerald made one with 3.2 seconds to play.
Key defender
• Cheverus senior Shema Rwaganje had the job of staying in Fitzgerald’s shooting space. Fitzgerald’s third 3-pointer was from about 30 feet, right in front of the Cheverus coaching staff.
• “He’s a player. You’ve just got to keep your head up with next-play mentality,” Rwaganje said. “If he hits that one shot, I’ve just got to live with it. He’s a great player and an outstanding guy so I just had to have next-play mentality. As a team we just really decided to make him the key factor and really lock him down.”
Statistical notes
• Fitzgerald finished with 18 points, getting six points at the free-throw line.
• Scarborough’s Carter Blanche added 17 points. The Red Storm had a 13-1 edge in bench points, paced by senior Cam Estrella with eight points.
• Scarborough shot 6 of 23 from the field in the second half, 1 of 11 from behind the arc.
• Nicola Plalum added 11 for Cheverus.
Tough roads ahead
• Cheverus has the momentum to grab the top seed in the North, especially if it can win at South Portland on Friday.
• Scarborough could help Cheverus’ cause if it hands Windham another loss on Friday. Windham, the defending state champion, lost at home to Lewiston on Tuesday. Scarborough then has Edward Little, the third-place team in the North, and finishes at Falmouth, the second-place team in A South.
“The positive of this is we’re right there. We played all the teams that are in the one, two spot really tough,” said Scarborough coach Phil Conley. “Cheverus is one-two in the North and we were right there with them tonight and that’s a positive for our guys, a young group and we’re going to continue to work because we know we’re right there.”
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