By ADAM ZAGORIA
RAHWAY, N.J. — Eight days ago, Nate Pierre-Louis and his Roselle Catholic teammates lost a brutal double-overtime matchup to St. Patrick’s in the Union County championship game at Kean University.
But Pierre-Louis said the Lions came out of that game feeling positive about the future — not full of dread at the heartbreaking defeat that dropped Roselle Catholic to 0-4 in Union County title games.
“We were proud,” said Pierre Louis, a 6-foot-3 junior guard. “It wasn’t like one of those losses that we were mad about because we really played our hearts out that game.”
Given a chance at revenge eight days later, Roselle Catholic made the most of their opportunity and took out the Celtics, 67-54, in the Non-Public B South semifinals at Rahway High School. It was the fourth meeting between the teams this season; they ended up splitting the games 2-2.
“The kids were obviously very upset after the county final because you just poured your heart and soul into a double-overtime game and you lose by a basket or two, obviously it hurt,” RC coach Dave Boff said. “But I thought they did a tremendous job recovering from that mentally, came back to practice and into the state tournament. I’m not surprised that we’re playing well right now because our focus in practice has been pretty good.”
The Lions (21-7) remain alive for their third Tournament of Champions title in four years and will meet Gill St. Bernard’s in the Non-Public B South final on Tuesday at Jackson Liberty.
Unbeaten St. Anthony’s (28-0) will face Dwight Englewood in the North B final on Thursday at Rutgers.
The winners of those two games will square off on March 12 in Toms River for a bid to the Tournament of Champions.
Roselle Catholic senior guard Matt Bullock, who went for 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 turnovers against St. Pat’s, is seeking his fourth state title and third Tournament of Champions crown.
“Us three [transfers Pierre-Louis, Leondre Washington and Andre Rafus], we came here for one reason and that’s to win the TOC and during the season we were trying to make Matt the winningest basketball player in the state of New Jersey, so that’s our motivation for the season,” said Pierre-Louis, who transferred in from St. Benedict’s Prep before the season and finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the win.
After Roselle Catholic took a 29-26 halftime lead, they seized control by outscoring the Celtics 18-6 in the third to take a commanding 47-32 lead after three periods.
Junior guard Gilberto Cue scored 8 points in the decisive period, and Pierre-Louis had 7.
“Cue’s been fantastic,” Boff said. “Cue’s a guy who came in and we asked him to play a role that’s a little bit different than the one he had in the past. But we know he has the ability to go and score the ball for us when we need it. And today we told the guys we needed points to come from a bunch of different places and he provided a nice spark.”
St. Pat’s closed within 53-46 midway through the fourth on a three-pointer from Harvard-bound point guard Bryce Aiken (9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), but Pierre-Louis answered with two foul shots and a steal and assist to Washington to put the Lions up 57-46.
It was the last high school game for Aiken, Rhode Island-bound forward Cyril Langevine and uncommitted senior big man Fatir Hines.
“I told them, it was such a joy and an honor coaching them becasue every single day they provided the leadership and the energy that you need to have a top team,” St. Pat’s coach Mike Rice said. “Those guys, it’s jsut the beginning of their careers and they’re doing to do so well becasue they have such a passion for the game and learning the game. It just stinks that they went out on a game like this, but that’s life and that’s the season.”
Jordan Walker led St. Pat’s with 15 points and 5 rebounds, while Jamir Harris had 7 points.
“We missed a lot of shots,” Rice said. “They played really well, defensively they were good, but we missed a lot of shots…We couldn’t put three to four makes togheter and kept the game close. We just could never get out in front and I give them credit. They made big shots and big plays.”
He added: “I’ve done everything in basketball except play someone four times in one season. When you play somebody four times, there are no secrets. We could’ve run their offense better than they did, and they can run our offense. and now you gotta go and make plays. And we just didn’t make enough plays.”
Rice, who was fired by Rutgers in 2013 for hurling basketball and homophobic slurs at his players, went a long way toward rehabilitating his image this season and led the Celtics to the Union County championship.
He said he will take some time and meet with St. Pat’s principal and coach Chris Chavannes to discuss his future going forward.
“Me and Chris we talked about it and we’ll talk about it some more,” Rice said. “I loved being associated with thi sprogram, loved the level of demand that htis program has. You’re the Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, you’re expected to do it every single year and I love that demand. But we’ll see. All I know is these guys are going to develop, get better and come hungrier next year.”
Meantime, Boff and the Lions will forge ahead trying to establish a true dynasty with three TOC titles in four years. Boff is 4-1 against Naismith Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley and St. Anthony’s in the last two years, and also added two wins against Rice this season.
“Oh, when they play like that they can beat anybody,” Rice said. “If they’re consistent with their energy and their effort they can beat anybody. ”
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