Roll Sal

Behind Murphy's 21, Jags top #3 Bulldogs 51-45...prepare for #1 Lourdes
It will be forever remembered, like the bloody sock of Curt Schilling.  Matthew Murphy stepped up to the free throw line with the Jags up by four with thirteen seconds left, blood covering the front of his jersey after busting his thumb nail.  Murphy hit both free throws to put the Jags up 51-45 which was how the most anticipated match-up of the CYO season ended.  Murphy led all scorers with 21 points, including a run of three straight treys in the third quarter which put the Jags up eleven, a lead they would take and never look back.  Jags big man Jack Marcheschi said of Murphy's performance, "Murph was wet from all angles, as usual."  The Dawgs led after one 12-7 and the halftime score was 27-26 in favor of the Jags following a buzzer three by Eric Deuber.  Murphy's explosive third really put the Jags ahead by as much as 11, but the Bulldogs had no quit and came within 4 in the fourth quarter behind a team high 10 points from Adam Bross.  The Dawgs' strength was on the boards and they dominated the rebounding category which kept them in the game.  I asked Ethan Jackson if the Dawgs dominating rebounding revealed a kink in the Sals' armor and he said, "Definitely, I was worried coming into today's game.  We didn't rebound well, but we got enough boards to hold on."  Jackson had netted his best performance all year, hitting for 10 points including a 3 with a minute and half left after Bross almost stole the ball away which was when the game was won, putting the Sals up 47-41.  It was Antoninus's only field goal in the 4th quarter.  The Jags hit four free throws and Adam Bross had two buckets which gave us our final of 51-45.  Vince Kampel, a spectator and known fan of both teams, said, "I'm really, really ugly and choose not to comment on the game."  Bulldogs' coach Ted Bross said after the game, "It was fun, we played well.  If we had executed our defensive strategy of disallowing Murphy and Niehauser from shooting throughout as we did in the final frame, our chances to win would have been exponentially higher."  Co-Captain for the Dawgs Zac Reid was asked to comment but he was so downtrodden after the excruciating loss.  Coach Mark Jackson of the Jags couldn't be reached for comment.