Catholic League Playoff Recaps, 2004-05

NORTH PRE-PLAYOFF
Judge 60, North Catholic 48
   Damien Palantino (19, 9-for-9 at line) and Mike Briscella (18, 6-for-8 from floor), a pair of lefties, paced the Crusaders to victory before an overflow crowd at Ryan. Briscella hit three consecutive jumpers (two on passes from Jim Schule) to expand Judge's lead from 44-41 to 50-41 with 2:08 left. North's Nate Edwards scored 18 points.
QUARTERFINALS
(At La Salle University, Doubleheaders on Back-to-Back Days)
   Neumann-Goretti 61, Roman 41: Derrick "D.J." Rivera totaled 25 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals and made two big plays to create some breathing room after Roman drew within 30-27. He first hit a trey, then passed to Earl Pettis (19 points, 11 rebounds) for a dunk. Richard Jackson added eight rebounds, seven blocks. Roman's Mike Ringgold managed 16 points and eight rebounds.
   SJ Prep 60, West Catholic 47: Reggie Redding scored 11 of his 19 points in a 14-10 first quarter, then concentrated mostly on rebounds (15) and assists (four). Joe Fox scored all 12 of his points in the second half. The Prep went 18-for-22 at the line to West's 10-for-23. Derrell Hand (11), a 325-pound Notre Dame football signee, was the only Burr to score more than six points. He nailed a lengthy trey at the first quarter buzzer.
   Dougherty 55, Ryan 47: With four sophomores in their eight-man rotation, the Cards continued an amazing season largely on the strength of a 23-14 third quarter. Sophs were the three leading scorers as Josh "Scrap" Martin had 18 points and four steals, Justin Minter shot 7-for-10 at the line en route to 11 points and Roberto Townsend scored 11 points off the bench. Minter added nine rebounds. Joe Zeglinski (18), Kevin Hudgeons (11) and Tom Manes (10) led Ryan, which eased within 45-44 before fading.
   Wood 44, Judge 31: After losing every time in its first 11 quarterfinal appearances, Wood finally got to go home happy. Matt Spadafora, the North MVP, had 13 points while Corey Filer (three steals) and Rob Pearson (three blocks) added 10 apiece and Mike Murnane hit all of his shots for seven. The Vikings closed things out with a 10-2 run. No one scored more than seven points for Judge, which went 12-for-46 and 3-for-19 on treys.
SEMIFINALS
(At La Salle University, Back-to-Back Nights)
   SJ Prep 63, Dougherty 48: The overall highlight came with 10 seconds remaining when senior Sean Barker, out of commission for almost two full years due to a serious knee injury (the first operation failed; he later needed a meniscus transplant), swished a free throw and drew a wild response from the players, coaches and fans. Barker and other deep subs got to play because the starters were dominant, storming to a 35-8 lead on the strength of 14-for-22 shooting (five treys) from the floor. Reggie Redding finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Frosh Larry Loughery added 13 points and seven boards. Justin Minter (12, eight rebounds) and Roberto Townsend (10) paced Dougherty.
   Neumann-Goretti 58, Wood 41: This game was also one-sided and raised the average victory margin in six regular playoffs (quarters and semis) to 14.3. The Saints swooshed to leads of 10-0, 20-10 and 27-12 (first 12 minutes) against the first-time semifinalist. David Burton, the lone senior starter, shot 8-for-12 while scoring 18 points. Antonio "Scoop" Jardine (16) and Derrick "D.J." Rivera (11) also hit double figures while Earl Pettis dealt six assists and Richard Jackson had nine rebounds, six blocks. Matt Spadafora (13) made Wood's first shot, a trey. The next three were blocked by three different players; two were guards.
FINAL
(At La Salle University)
Neumann-Goretti 57, SJ Prep 44
   Before another turnaway crowd of 4,000-plus, the Saints put four scorers in double figures and maintained safe control through the second half after intermission ended at 32-24. Earl Pettis, brother of Robert "Beattie" Taylor, star guard for the 2000 champs, had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Two of his feeds produced baskets to begin the second half, as N-G expanded its pad to 36-24. Antonio "Scoop" Jardine (15), David Burton (12, all in first half) and Derrick "D.J." Rivera (10) also reached double figures. As the third quarter wound down, sub Conor Kennedy provided a 10-point lead with a trey and followed by drawing a charging call, helping Rivera close out the session with a trey for a 46-33 score. Reggie Redding (23) scored 15 of The Prep's first 19 points and claimed five of its first seven rebounds. Guard-forward Corey O'Rourke went most of the way for the Hawks even though he'd suffered a broken left (non-shooting) wrist in the semifinal win over Dougherty. This was the first year for N-G, a combination of Neumann (boys) and Goretti (girls) in the latter's building.