NWC’s Matt Curtis celebrates with his fans after his team topped No. 1-seeded and No. 1-ranked Windsor in the CCC semifinals Tuesday, March 3 at Bulkeley.
HARTFORD — Northwest Catholic coach John Mirabello stood in front of a bank of cameras, all demanding to know how his team rallied from a 10-point deficit to topple No. 1-ranked Windsor, 72-62 in the CCC semifinals Tuesday night.
Mirabello, the longtime NWC coaching legend, kept looking up at the scoreboard as he wiped sweat from his head. “Sorry,” he declared. “I keep thinking they have 20 more seconds left.”
Windsor didn’t. Not any more. Mirabello’s fourth-seeded squad made sure of it and secured a date with arch-rival East Catholic in the CCC championship game, Thursday, 7 p.m. at Bulkeley.
CCC BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
“That felt good, man. It’s just the hard work. It felt great,” said senior guard Selwyn Paul. “Coming in they were projected to win. We came out, we (kept) our heads, we got the win, man.”
NWC’s Selwyn Paul, who scored 17 of his 19 in the second half, on his team’s takedown of No. 1 Windsor. “I think we are the best Not to sound cocky. But I’m just here to play hard and win.” #ctbb pic.twitter.com/zhu1eCJgwB
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 4, 2020
Down 10 following a miserable end of the first half, which finished with a 13-0 Windsor run, senior guard Selwyn Paul helped ignite a massive rally.
He scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half as NWC reclaimed the lead for good with a 14-0 run to start the third quarter.
“I think the key was, at halftime, I could see their body language,” Mirabello said of his team’s mindset, down 34-24 at the break. “I said, look, a lot of this is what we did. We could have done a better job.
NWC’s John Mirabello kept looking up at the scoreboard, “I keep thinking they have more seconds left….” then praised his team after their takedown of No. 1 Windsor #ctbb pic.twitter.com/6JBd11WuHJ
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 4, 2020
“I said, pick your spirits up. Take a deep breath. Have fun. This is all about getting ready for the state tournament. You can’t get a better environment and a better situation like this to improve.”
But once NWC got started, there wasn’t much Windsor could do to stop the Lions.
Paul scored eight of his points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that kept NWC in front 42-40 after three quarters as Windsor attempted to keep pace.
Guy Ragland Jr and 1, makes it for the 12-point NWC lead. Lions can feel ot with under 4 left
It’s now 60-46 NWC with 3:09 left. #ctbb pic.twitter.com/2yLwB6EiT6— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 3, 2020
“My teammates believed in me, my coaches believed in me and I took what the defense gave me and that’s it,” Paul said.
He ignited another NWC run to start the fourth, this time feeding big man Guy Ragland Jr. inside for easy buckets. The senior forward scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as NWC surged ahead by 12 with 3:53 remaining.
“We didn’t play defense,” said Windsor coach Ken Smith, whose 19-4 team suffered its first loss in-state. “And we didn’t run our offense. It was stagnant. I think we just felt like we’d mow them over. We were ready to play, but it was a big game for them. These schools have a lot of history.”
Make it an 11-0 run for NWC to take the lead. Selwyn Paul hits a 3, then does this. 35-34 NWC mid 3 #ctbb pic.twitter.com/cp64n04Sbg
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 3, 2020
Windsor did try to make a late run thanks to its press. A 3-pointer by Jarrell Petteway and then a steal and layup by Primo Spears — a former transfer from NWC, who struggled early and finished with 11 points — made it a 62-56 game with 2:24 left.
But Landell Green (15 points) scored a pair of baskets off Windsor’s press and it was all over except for the rowdy celebration by the NWC students.
“We’re going to get better than this game,” said Mirabello, whose team will compete in the Division III state tournament next week. “I think we saw a lot of growth. We got to go through the ebbs and flows of a tight game.
Northwest Catholic topples No. 1 Windsor in the CCC semifinals, 72-62. Wow #ctbb pic.twitter.com/aihJega9o3
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 3, 2020
“I’m just so proud of them. In this environment, against that team. I’m really really proud of them. I’m just glad that, in times when things started to go against them a little bit, we pulled it together.”
Matt Curtis scored 15 points for NWC (20-3), 11 of which came in the first half. Justice Ellison led Windsor with 19 points and Corey McKeithan added 16 points. Windsor will await its seeding in the upcoming Division I tournament.
NWC now looks to toppling East Catholic in Thursday’s final. This will be NWC’s first CCC title game since 2010. It has never won the league title.
East Catholic defeated NWC 64-59 in the only meeting this year on Dec. 30.
“We got to play against the best and, yo, I think we are the best,” Paul said when asked how this prepared his team for the state tournament. “Honestly. Not to sound cocky or anything. I’m just here to play hard and win. That’s it.”
Knowling, East Catholic reach fifth-straight final
Glastonbury… still hanging around, perhaps this Knowling block on Shea and this Brody Limric ally-oop (which pushes it to 58-45) will end it… #ctbb pic.twitter.com/mjdJbBRLkd
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 4, 2020
In the nightcap, East Catholic used an early 10-2 run to put some distance between it and Glastonbury and beat back the pesky Tomahawks, 69-51, in the second semifinal game.
Matt Knowling scored 20 points to lead East Catholic, while Luke Strole added 19 points and 17 rebounds as East Catholic won its ninth-straight game since its loss to Windsor on Jan. 28.
“It’s a semifinal game so you know it’s going to be a 32-minute game, and that’s what we expected,” East coach Luke Reilly said. “We just want to win by 1, that’s the goal this time of year. Survive and advance.
East Catholic coach Luke Reilly on his team advancing to a fifth-straight CCC final, looking for its fourth title in five seasons #ctbb pic.twitter.com/TLHqGZrhCH
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 4, 2020
“We’re excited for the opportunity to be playing for another championship and these guys work really hard to get to a championship game.”
Glastonbury, however, wouldn’t go away that easily. The Tomahawks, who were led by 19 points by Thomas Shea, got within 29-24 late in the second quarter. But East Catholic closed the half with a 7-0 run for a 36-24 lead.
The closest Glastonbury got from there was seven points, but never strayed too far from striking distance before East Catholic’s talent and depth won out.
Matt Knowling slam on the break. East up 44-29 mid 3 #ctbb pic.twitter.com/PQOEBbG883
— Sean Patrick Bowley (@SPBowley) March 4, 2020
“We battled. We’re always going to battle,” Glastonbury coach Jim Vaughn said. “I thought played East played really well. They had to play really well to beat us and, to their credit, they did.
“We lost to one of the best teams around, everyone knows that, and we wouldn’t go away. The score is not indicative of — I wouldn’t say close — but how competitive this game was. I’m proud of my guys.”
