Crusaders get team effort
in second half
The Crusaders had heard enough about what they couldn’t do and how hard it would be to defeat an upstart Marlin team.
A determined Crusaders team, without the trio of last year’s star players Joey Brooks, Tim Frazier and Rogers were able to get the job done.
The Strake Jesuit Crusaders took matters into their own hands reeling in the Madison Marlins 76-71 Monday night in the first game of a double header at the Campbell Center.
Sophomore Rasheed Sulaimon converted one of two free throws to ice the game, the win places Strake Jesuit in the 5A region III semifinals where they will face Bush Friday at the Campbell Center.
“We’re a young team, all season we’ve heard we can’t do it. We believe in ourselves and we strive to win every game and we play hard. Madison is a really fast team, we had to get back on defense but we made the adjustment in the second half,” Sulaimon Strake Jesuit’s Guard said.
Up by one with under 2 minutes left in the second quarter Strake Jesuit went on a 6-0 run to close out the half, 37-31. Sulaimon’s two fast break layups, a steal by Dylan Monmouth and layup completed the run.
The Marlin answered early in the third with 6-0 run of their own. Fred Basile found an opening in the Crusaders defense as he cut to the basket for the layup. After a Strake Jesuit miss Karl Smith got a short jumper to fall and Clarence Shelvin penetrated up the middle for the finger roll slicing the lead to one, 37-36 with 5:58 to go in the third quarter. Then Basile’s steal, which led to a layup gave the Marlins their first lead of the second half, 38-37.
Monmouth of Strake Jesuit got inside for the short jumper, was fouled, and converted the free throw to regain the lead back 40-38.
At the 3:41 point in the third quarter Jonathan Barefield caught fire knocking down three consecutive treys that put the Marlins up by 5, 51-46.
John Gillion’s three pointer closed the Marlin lead to two, 51-49. From that point until the end of the quarter the game was close with Strake retaking a one point advantage 56-55 to end the third quarter.
In the final quarter Madison’s Josh McWilliam hit a trey to tie the game at 64 with 3:13 to go. Not long after Shelvin followed on a drive through the middle with a layup that dead lock the game at 68 until the Crusaders secured the win.
