BRIDGEPORT — Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Tyler Bourne saw a lot of the Xaverian boys’ basketball team. In fact, he even played against them as a freshman at nearby Abraham Lincoln High School.
Now, as the starting point guard for Notre Dame-Fairfield, Bourne had the chance to go against the Clippers again.
The senior scored a game-high 21 points, 10 coming in the third quarter, as the Lancers rolled past Xaverian 68-57 in the third game of the MLK Classic Monday at the Webster Bank Arena.
“My freshman year we played against Xaverian at their place and he (head coach Clyde Chapman) was on the coaching staff at the time, so I have a good relationship with him,” Bourne said.
And as if just to remind Chapman — who was not available for post-game interviews — of how good Bourne is, when the senior buried an NBA-range 3-pointer just at the halftime buzzer to give ND-Fairfield a 33-25 lead, Bourne looked at Chapman and winked and the coach couldn’t help but say, “I’ve been seeing that since seventh grade.”
After rolling through seven straight in-state opponents, the Lancers took on a solid Clippers squad that plays in the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association along with teams like Christ the King, Mater Dei and Cardinal Hayes and over the first half, the Clippers stayed close, trailing by just five 30-25 before Bourne’s halftime buzzer-beater.
“We didn’t do lot of talking at halftime,” Bourne said. “We just wanted to stick to the game plan, keep pushing the ball up-court on every possession on a make or a miss and most of the time, in the third quarter, that’s when we built our lead.”
And that’s exactly what the Lancers did. Leading 35-27, ND put together a 14-2 run, highlighted by eight points, two assists and a steal from Bourne to open a 47-29 cushion with 4:11 left in the third.
“When we play with that kind of pace, I think we’re a better team and obviously, Tyler pushing the ball the way he can, that really makes us better,” Lancers coach Chris Watts said. “I don’t think we’re using him properly if we’re just walking the ball up the floor. We’re a much better team when we’re playing downhill and that was evident how we came out after halftime.”
Notre Dame kept pushing the pace, controlling the tempo and didn’t let Xaverian put together any kind of momentum swing. Over the fourth quarter, the closest the Clippers got was 10 (50-40) with 7:40 to play.
“We just want to come out all the time and play hard,” Bourne said.
Josh Reaves had 13, Nori Davis had 12 and Damion Medwinter had 11 for the Lancers. Isaiah Amazan had 18 to lead Xaverian with Elijah Hardison adding 13.
“We knew they had a big (Hardison) that could do some things down low and we wanted to wall him up and make him take uncomfortable shots,” Watts said. “Damion Medwinter did a great job on him and again Tyler pushing the pace and Josh Reaves playing good defense, we did pretty well in the second half.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
ND’s Tyler Bourne. He scored 10 of his 20 points in the third quarter as the Lancers took a six-point game and opened an 18-point cushion and coasted to its eighth straight victory.
QUOTABLE
“It just comes from practicing hard every day. Last year, I used to argue with him all the time, telling him that he was better than he was. He’s always going to play hard, on offense or defense, and he’s putting his game together. He’s looking like one of the best bigs in CT.” Bourne on teammate Medwinter.