February 3, 2008
Mitty Handles Sacred Heart 79-73
Neither rain, nor wind nor car-swallowing puddles keep the NCP staff from their appointed rounds so we made our way to the Archbishop Mitty gymnasium Saturday night to catch the Monarchs and visiting Sacred Heart battle in West Catholic Athletic League play.
The game was close most of the way and actually came down to the last minute or so before Mitty notched a 79-73 victory. AM’s Collin Chiverton led the way with 35 points, followed by John Adams and Enoch Andoh with 12 apiece. Jerry Brown led the Fightin’ Irish with 25 points, backed by Jerry Green’s 16 and Teandre Hubbard’s 12.
In the fateful fourth quarter, SH’s Joseph Slocum scored on a putback to make it 68-62 Mitty with 3:52 left on the clock. A John Adams jumphook in the lane boosted the advantage to 70-62. Richard Lai’s layup again cut the margin to six. Chiverton committed a turnover and Sacred Heart took full advantage as Browns two free throws reduced the difference to four, 70-66 with 2:50 remaining.
Andoh tipped in a Chiverton miss to give AMHS yet another six point lead. Brown then followed with a three-pointer from the left side ,cutting the margin to just three points, 72-69.
Andoh was fouled but missed both charity tosses and Chiverton also missed on a drive that had some in the stands calling for a foul and others insisting none was necessary.
On the next sequence, Brown was fouled and hit 1-2 free throws to make the score 72-70 at the 1:49 mark. Green was whistled for a foul inside on Andoh who made both free throws this time to give Mitty a four point lead, 74-70.
Coming down and setting up its offense, SH was whistled for an ill-timed illegal pick. Mitty then scored with Andoh tossing in a left-handed flip shot.
Richard Lai then notched one of two free throws, leaving the score 76-71. Angelo Caloiaro was fouled with 34 second left and buried both free throws, providing AMHS with an insurmountable lead.
Both teams came out firing and hitting in the first quarter. Each squad enjoyed numerous dribble-drive layups and distance shots with Mitty holding a 21-20 lead after one. Jerry Brown hit a baseline eight-footer to close the Monarch lead to that margin right before the buzzer.
At the half, AM had stretched the lead to 42-33 having compiled consecutive 21 point outbursts. Chiverton, demonstrating an "I-will-not-be-stopped" attitude and presence with his offensive forays totaled 23 points after the first 16 minutes. He utilized teammate screens to free himself to pop jumpers, backdoor cuts for layups and fake backdoor cuts followed by step-back shots.
It was a close third quarter after Brown’s trey cut AMHS’s lead to seven, 61-54. With 4:35 remaining in the third, a steal and pass to Brown led to a dunk and that was followed by another steal resulting in a Green layup. The scores cut the Monarch margin to 50-47. Sacred Heart’s press was producing a few turnovers but more so an effectiveness in delaying Mitty’s attempts to get into its offensive sets, forcing AM out of sync.
In the same period, an intentional foul produced two Chiverton free throws, making the score 56-51 in Mitty’s favor. An Angelo Caloiaro two from the left corner boosted the score to 58-51. With 1:50 remaining, Green emerged upset from a scrum on the floor for a loose basketball and his actions resulted in a technical foul. Chiverton notched both free throws to pad AM’s lead.
Notes - Chiverton is now at the forefront for Mitty, not only having put the team on his shoulders but blossoming with it. He was torrid from outside and also used his length numerous times to dribble-drive to the basket and either score on a layup or be fouled in the process. Saturday, there were zero disappearing moments for him...SH’s Jerry Brown, despite a funky shooting motion at times, kept his team in the game by connecting on shots from inside and out. Sacred Heart just had no answer for Chiverton as his physical stature won out time and time again with anyone matched against him...Kevin Greene of the Fightin’ Irish proved effective inside but drifted out of the paint at times and put up shots out of his range.