Crosby Dogs Holy Cross

By Sam and Tyler / February 4, 2008, 2:29 pm

WATERBURY—After taking in an exciting UCONN victory on Saturday, we made our first trek into NVL country to check out two of the top teams in the league. What was touted as highly anticipated rematch fulfilled expectations as Crosby exacted revenge on the visiting Crusaders of Holy Cross.

Arriving at 5:30 PM, we had the pleasure of watching the Bulldog JV squad dismantle Holy Cross, 104-52. As the JV game got boring quickly, we met the Voyce, Screscue, and saw Hoops Morelli, Windsor coach Ken Smith, and of course TommyRazor. A full cast of celebs decided to check out the Bulldogs on this mild Saturday evening. We hoped the JV blowout was not a sign of things to come in the Varsity contest; however, we could help but notice the tone was set for Crosby’s vengeance.

Crosby starters were Monteiro, Ireland, Madison, Moore, and Manning, while Holy Cross countered with Murphy, Ward, Mitchell, Zimmerman, and Kolb. Coming out of the gates quickly were the visitors, jumping to a 6-0 lead, but Anthony Ireland put an end to the run with an acrobatic lay in to make it 6-2. Cross stretched the lead to as much as 9-2, but Ireland and the Bulldogs fought back to make it 20 apiece at the end of quarter one. Play was back in forth in the first period with Crosby getting a bit sloppy at times. BJ Montiero was kept quiet with two points, but the supporting cast stepped up to keep Crosby even with the Crusaders.

As quarter two began, Derek Ward opened the scoring for Holy Cross with a lay-in and Crosby’s Manning answered with an elbow jumper. Capitalizing off a Crusader turnover, Anthony Ireland gave Crosby its first lead with a lay-in with 5:53 to go in the half. Sandwiched between two Holy Cross turnovers Gary Madison hit a three and Crosby led 27-22. Play then became sloppy with neither team scoring before Monteiro hit one of two free throws with 3:20 to go. Crosby’s run continued, reaching thirteen straight points, capped off by Julio Vasquez three. The teams then traded buckets prior to the halftime horn. Despite holding standout Montiero to just five points in the half, the Crusaders still trailed the Bulldogs 37-24 at the break. This thirteen-point deficit was due in large part to the Crusader’s inability to hang with Crosby on the boards and a stingy Bulldog defense holding HC to four points in the quarter.

Coming out of the half, Holy Cross immediately turned it over and Crosby turned it into points, as Anthony Ireland hit two free throws. Ireland scored again, hitting a lay-up and Derek Ward finally scored the first Crusader points in the 3^rd quarter. The pace picked up a bit and the teams went back and forth, with Holy Cross cutting the lead to 10 with just over 4 minutes left in the quarter. With the scoreboard reading 49-39 in favor of Crosby, Holy Cross forward Kyle Murphy converted a lay-up and was fouled. His free throw brought Holy Cross to within 7. Anthony Ireland, connecting on all cylinders, answered with a three to take back the 10-point lead. As the quarter wound down, free throws were exchanged and several lay-ups made, with the Bulldogs taking a 61-49 lead into the fourth. Playing for an Assistant Coach, the Bulldogs controlled the game after playing sloppily the first couple minutes. Head Coach Nick Augelli, who could not attend the game, would have been happy with the play of his point guard and ability of his team to limit the Crusaders to one shot with strong rebounding. Monteiro didn’t score in the quarter, but certainly altered shots on defense and stayed in the game in other ways. Holy Cross showed signs of getting this game under 10 points and the potential for a late game run. Their faithful, clad in green and gold, were hoping to invade the Crosby Palace and steal one from the home team.

With momentum and the finish line in sight, Crosby hoped to seal the deal in their second round matchup with Holy Cross. However, as the fourth started, Kyle Murphy hit a turnaround jumper and Jerome Mitchell hit a lay-up off a back door cut. Mitchell then took an outlet pass and went right at Monteiro, hitting an acrobatic fall away lay-up to make it 61-55. Crosby regained composure and brought the lead back to 65-55. One of Two free throws paired with a lay-up by Ward and Holy Cross was back to within 7, but Anthony Ireland drained another three. At about 4 and half minutes to go in the game, Mitchell hit a three with a guy in his face to pull his team to 69-62. A driving lay-up by Monteiro put Crosby back up nine, but Ward hit a deep two to make it 71-64 with 3:14 to go. Holy Cross immediately called a timeout and broke their huddle with a full court trap. Monteiro found himself in trouble and called a timeout and the Bulldogs came out and easily broke the pressure. Monteiro missed the front end of a 1 and 1, opening the door for a Holy Cross comeback. Sensing they could take one away from Crosby, Jerome Mitchell decided to put his team on his back. He made a lay-up in traffic and then followed with another lay-up off a Crosby miss, to make it 71-68 and bring Crosby fans to the edge of their seats. What was once a sizeable lead had been trimmed to 3 and the “W” was in jeopardy. Lavar Moore broke his man down and put one off the window, but Derek Ward answered with a putback to keep the Crosby lead at 3. Moore was then fouled and hit both free throws. Jerome Mitchell dribbled through 4 of the 5 Crosby defenders and scored. 75-72 Crosby. As Crosby attempted to run time off the clock, Anthony Ireland, the man with the hot hand, was fouled. He made one of two free throws, but Holy Cross missed a jumper and Monteiro snagged the rebound. After he hit two free throws, the last attempts of Holy Cross fell short and the Bulldogs held on. It was a satisfying win, 78-72, for Crosby players and fans.

Both teams did not appear to play to their full potential, but still battled and played a tough game. It was the second quarter that was the difference, with the Bulldogs outscoring the Crusaders 17-4. Crosby proved it can win without a big performance by B.J. Monteiro, and Anthony Ireland proved he can play with the best. Crosby looks to be a top 5 seed for the LL tournament, but may still meet Holy Cross again in the NVL tournament coming up. Holy Cross plays well as a team and does indeed have a go-to-guy in Jerome Mitchell. When he wanted to, he could take over, going by any defender and scoring with bodies strewn all over him. Derek Ward and other Holy Cross players work well together, sharing the ball and opening up many easy scoring opportunities.

It was a great day in basketball, from Trinity Catholic alum and current UConn player Craig Austrie’s 3’s in a crucial Big East game to making our first trip to the Crosby Palace, a hoops fan wouldn’t have it any other way. Shout out to Voyce and Screscue for meeting them and seeing a game in their neck of the woods. Crosby, and potentially Holy Cross, will be feared come state tourney time. Watch out CT!

View this blog now!