Eagles' senior savvy shows in 69-66 victory

Friday, March 10, 2000

By Steve Blackledge
Dispatch Sports Reporter

Appropriately enough, a Division II district boys basketball final last night was barely two minutes old when Watterson's Aron Rolsen decked DeSales' Nathan Garrick with an inadvertent elbow to the nose.

The backyard brawl pitting age-old Central Catholic League rivals was officially on.

Eleven ties and 16 lead changes later, Watterson answered with just enough counterpunches to pound out a 69-66 decision over DeSales in the Coliseum for its first district title since 1988.

"All year long, we've kind of hung around and been fortunate enough to pull games out at the end," Watterson coach Vince Lombardo said.

"When we get to that point near the end of the game, our kids seem to have a lot of confidence that they'll make positive things happen. They really believe in themselves."

That never-say-die attitude (the Eagles are 9-3 in games determined by six or fewer points) may have been the difference in the all-important rubber match.

"Watterson is a senior-oriented team that made senior-type plays down the stretch," DeSales coach Dan Garrick said. "Whenever it seemed like we might be gaining the upper hand, you could just see their seniors step up and say 'we're not going to let this slip away from us.' I believe their experience wills them to pull through."

One of those grizzled seniors, Rolsen, scored 10 of his career-high- tying 26 points in the fourth quarter, including four free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the deal.

"When we took control down the stretch, we showed a lot of poise and energy," Rolsen said. "I guess we got a little bit lucky at times, too."

After DeSales (14-8) cut a 63-57 deficit to 63-61, Watterson's Andrew Lloyd missed two foul shots with 31 seconds left. The Stallions' Russ Keller grabbed one of his 14 rebounds but lost control of it. Ryan Schmelmer alertly scooped up the loose ball and amd scored for the Eagles (16-7).

"That certainly was a big play," Lombardo said. "They've got a chance to tie or go ahead and instead we wind up by four. We came up with a few loose balls down the stretch. Sometimes the bounces go your way, sometimes they don't."

The Stallions led by seven late in the third quarter, but Paul Pardi came off the bench to fuel a 10-3 charge that pulled Watterson even.

"Paul made some incredible plays on both ends and gave us a huge lift," Lombardo said.

Tony Borghese paced DeSales with a career-high 30 points.

"I think the difference in the game was they just executed better," he said. "It came down to us not being able to stop them on defense as well as we should have."

While the statistics mirrored the final outcome, Watterson committed just six turnovers.

The victory was especially sweet for Lombardo, whose teams had dropped three district finals in the previous five seasons. The Eagles will face Cincinnati Purcell-Marian in regional play at 6:15 Wednesday at Wright State University.

"It was a great game," Lombardo said, "but then DeSales-Watterson games always are."