SWANSEA- After a slow start to the game, a hot fourth quarter run lead by seniors Ryan McConnell and Logan Sherratt saw the Case Cardinals take down the Seekonk Warriors 49-44 in a hard fought back and forth battle Friday night.
I’m very happy, they played hard,” said Case coach Dan Wenzel, whose team qualified for the state tournament with the win. “The first half was rough for us, the second half was much better. We got some great contributions… McConnell came into the game and turned the tide for us, he made a couple of big plays, was great on defense and really changed the game for us.”
Both Sherratt and junior Alex Levesque lead the Cardinals offense with 15 points apiece, including three 3-pointers from the latter. McConnell had seven points, including a three pointer, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
For the Warriors, junior Elijah Leonard lead the way with 10 points including a pair of threes, while sophomore Nathan Clarke and senior Dominic Lopo had nine and eight, respectively.
Both sides got off to a slow start in first quarter, with shots not dropping on either end in the first few minutes and early points coming only from the free throw line. Junior Kevin Moszkowicz netted the first basket from the field of the game for Seekonk to tie it up 3-3, but Case responded with a3-pointer from Levesque to go up double and a pair of buckets from Sherratt saw the hosts up 10-5 at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter stayed much like the first, with both sides seeing most of their shots go wayward or blocked in the paint by the opposition. After surrendering another three to Levesque early in the quarter, the Warriors battled back to draw the Cardinals within two before a 3-pointer from Lopo gave the visitors the 16-15 lead. A layup by Clarke followed by the added free throw saw Seekonk go into the locker room up 19-15 on the hosts.
In the third quarter, the Warriors got out to a 21-16 lead after a Leonard layup, but another three from Sherratt followed up by a open layup from sophomore Jordan Rodrigues tied it up and a basket from junior Jarrod Sutcliffe put Case back on top 23-21. The lead was short lived, however, as junior Kameron Casala quickly drew his team even and the teams traded shots again, with a late Levesque layup seeing the game go into the final quarter at 25-25.
In the fourth quarter, Wenzel put on McConnell for the first time of the evening and the senior wasted no time getting on the board, as his shot put the team up 27-25. The Warriors quickly responded, but the Cardinals returned with eight unanswered points, capped by another three from Levesque, to make it 35-27. A 3-pointer from Leonard and two for the line from Lopo brought Seekonk back within three before a McConnell three pointer made it 38-32.
From there, the Cardinals continued to build on their lead, but the Warriors came back to respond almost every time, though missed shots doomed them in the end. Another three from Leonard brought the team within three in the final minute, but a foul by senior Logan Casala and two free throws from Levesque sealed the deal for Case.
“We can’t finish worse now than second place in the (South Coast- Small),” Wenzel said regarding the win. “That was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year and this second year in a row now that we’ve been able to get in there and now we’ve got to look to these last three games as something to build some momentum on for the playoffs.”
The Cardinals return to action Monday night as they travel down to Fall River to face Diman.