Christian Brothers Academy’s dream of a four-peat ended Monday at Albany’s TU Center.
Bishop Maginn closed the game on a 29-11 run to defeat the Brothers 48-43 in the Section II, Class AA finals.
The three-time champions led by as many as 13 points early in the second half before Bishop Maginn stormed back.
We had difficulty getting shots off (in the second half), said CBA coach Dave Doemel. `I was very proud of some of the things we did on defense. We just had difficulty getting in our offense.`
Part of the problem was that the Brothers (23-1) were missing two key players in the fourth quarter ` center Greg Holle and forward DeAndre Kennedy. Both players got into foul trouble early in the final period, which forced Doe-mel to go to his bench.
`It was tough when DeAndre and Greg got in foul trouble because we had to mix and match (players),` said Doemel.
Bishop Maginn’s offense was also forced to make an adjustment because leading scorer Talor Battle was having trouble making shots. But Bunduka Kargbo and Terron Victoria made key shots down the stretch to help the Golden Griffins (21-3) pull off the comeback.
`I wasn’t there offensively, but I was there defensively, and the team stepped up,` said Battle, who still finished with 14 points despite making only four shots from the field.
CBA looked like it might run away with the game in the first half as it built a 26-16 halftime lead. Joe Zappone led a 15-5 surge with a pair of three-pointers.
The Brothers extended their lead to 32-19 early in the third quarter before Bishop Maginn closed the gap with a 13-3 run, highlighted by a six-point burst from James Torres. Freshman Taran Buie gave the Golden Griffins their first lead on a pair of free throws midway through the fourth quarter. The lead changed hands several times before Kargbo’s driving layup put Bishop Maginn ahead for good.
Holle finished with 13 points, and Luke Weaver contributed eight points for CBA.“
