What was supposed to be a classic battle turned out to be a one-sided affair.
Christian Brothers Academy went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter and cruised to a 59-47 victory over Shenendehowa in Tuesday’s Section II Class AA boys basketball championship game at Albany’s Times Union Center.
Those kids did a great job, said CBA coach Dave Doemel, who coached the Brothers (21-1) to their fifth Sectional title in the last eight years. `I say it every year: it’s a new group of kids, and it’s up to them to come together as a team.`
The Brothers put together a strong defensive plan to take Shen (20-2) out of its rhythm offensively. They guarded the perimeter and prevented the Plainsmen from driving to the basket and then kicking the ball out to the open shooter.
`Credit CBA. They took us out of what we wanted to do,` said Shen coach Tony Dzikas.
To complicate matters for Shen, CBA started hitting its perimeter shots. Junior guard Max Weaver drained four three-pointers — usually at critical junctures in the game when Shen was trying to close the gap — and senior forward Kameron Ritter added a pair of shots from behind the three-point arc.
`Weav is that kind of kid,` Doemel said of Weaver, who led three CBA players in double figures with 18 points. `Mentally, he’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever known.`
`We talked about playing more zone [defense], and then they start hitting those threes and it’s hard to play zone at that point,` said Dzikas.
However, it was Josh Dennis’ three-pointer midway through the second quarter that set the wheels in motion for a CBA victory. At the time Dennis drained his three, Ritter was lying on the ground near midcourt after coming in contact with a Shen defender. No foul was called on the play.
The sequence stoked a fire inside Ritter. He drove to the basket on CBA’s next two possessions and hit shots while getting fouled, and then added the extra foul shots to put the Brothers ahead 27-13.
`To be on the ground and see Josh [Dennis] hit that three, I just wanted to be down at that end of the floor helping my teammates out,` said Ritter.
Once CBA got ahead by double digits, it was nearly impossible for Shen to cut the deficit below 10 points. That’s because every time the Plainsmen got on a small run, the Brothers responded with a couple of quick baskets.
`They just couldn’t quite get over the hump, and that’s a credit to CBA,` said Dzikas. `At that point, you’re swimming upstream because they’re a team that can also make their foul shots.`
Galal Cancer was especially effective at the foul line. The junior guard made nine of his 12 free throws, including a 5-for-6 performance over the final four minutes to seal the victory.
Cancer finished with 17 points and eight rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team, while Ritter garnered most valuable player honors after his 15-point performance.
`It’s the whole group of them,` Doemel said of Cancer, Ritter and Weaver. `They have to react to everything that the see on the court. They see it, and they go.`
Senior guards Matt Miner and Dan Lee scored 14 and 11 points, respectively, but it wasn’t the type of shooting Shen fans were used to seeing from them. Lee made four of his 12 shots from the floor, while Miner was accurate 50 percent of the time, and both of them were 2-of-5 from behind the three-point arc.
`Those kids can play offense. They’re a handful,` said Doemel. `You have to credit [our] guys for buying into the program [defensively].`
CBA advances to Saturday’s Class AA regional final against Section III champion Cicero-North Syracuse at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
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