Panthers go fourth again

By Paul Teves / D4 South Boys | Sunday, March 7, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com |

The Cathedral boys basketball team outscored Westport 25-8 in the fourth quarter en route to its third Division 4 South title in four years, 66-49.

The Panthers, who have eliminated Westport each of the last four years from the tourney (three times in the South championship game) found themselves tied at 41 at the end of the third, but scored the final frame’s first eight points and finished the game on a 15-2 run to vanquish the upstart Wildcats (21-3).

“Once we decided to cut the baseline off and didn’t give them any more open looks we were able to create some stops,” Cathedral coach Carnell Suttles said of the fourth-quarter dominance, which helped the Panthers improve to 19-5.

Cathedral’s Anthony Bell provided the early spark in the fourth quarter, scoring all six of his points on a pair of 3-pointers to give Cathedral a 49-41 edge.

Westport, as it did for much of the game, clawed back, cutting the lead to four (51-47). However, the Wildcats failed to execute down the stretch offensively, scoring just two points over the final five minutes of the game.

“They executed well down the stretch and we had trouble getting the ball in the hoop,” Westport coach Scott Boudria said. “We missed a lot of outside shots and had a lot of our outside shots deflected.”

Westport was able to stay in the contest thanks in part to the poor free throw shooting of the Panthers (48 percent), and Cathedral’s turnover troubles.

Joseph Greene and Earnest McNeil led the way with 20 and 18 points respectively. McNeil also hauled down 10 rebounds.

Westport was led by junior Adam Soares, who scored a team-high 18 points, including nine in the third quarter to give the Wildcats their only lead of the game, 41-39.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/general/view.bg?articleid=1237876