Cardinal boys lose second meeting with Notre Dame

Boys basketball

By: Jim Green
   The Lawrence High School boys basketball team could have had something to show for its disappointing year.
   The Cardinals stepped on the floor at LHS on Monday night with an opportunity to complete a season sweep of cross-town rival Notre Dame. For Lawrence, which never completely recovered from its season-opening overtime loss at Hopewell Valley, a second win over the Fighting Irish would have gone a long way toward easing the pain of missing the state tournament and failing to make any noise in the Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division race.
   Instead, Notre Dame played like a team with something to prove, while Lawrence at times appeared to be counting down the minutes until its lost season ends.
   Notre Dame senior guard Jay Graber lit the Cardinals up for 26 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Fighting Irish cruised to a 62-41 victory. Lawrence’s fourth consecutive loss dropped its record to 7-16 overall and 5-11 in the CVC.
   "We weren’t there tonight," Lawrence coach Pat Tarrant said. "There were a couple of distractions."
   Tarrant would not comment on the distractions, except to say the Cardinals would handle them in-house. For whatever reason, though, Lawrence did not play with the same intensity and desire that carried it to a dramatic 56-55 upset over Notre Dame on Jan. 21.
   "We just got outplayed," Tarrant said. "We outplayed them the first game. They outplayed us this game."
   The Cardinals did not get outplayed the entire game. Freshman center Brett Brackett and senior forward Justin Ross each netted five points, as Lawrence confidently opened a 15-12 lead late in the first quarter.
   However, Graber connected on two foul shots with one second left in the period, pulling Notre Dame within one point. The Fighting Irish carried that momentum through the break, opening the second quarter with a 15-0 run.
   The first nine points of the burst came on drives to the basket, as the Fighting Irish attack consistently beat Lawrence’s defense down the floor.
   "There’s no excuse for that," Tarrant said of his team’s second-quarter defense. "You can’t give the other team layups and expect to be in the game."
   Rich Gunnell and Graber then connected on 3-pointers, opening a 29-15 lead for Notre Dame. Lawrence received layups from senior guard Shawn Potocki and Ross over the last 2:10 of the period, but Notre Dame went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line during that stretch to maintain a 14-point advantage.
   Tarrant felt his club’s bench had difficulty keeping pace with the speedy Fighting Irish in the second quarter.
   "Sometimes I go to my bench, and some of those guys aren’t ready to play," he said. "Sometimes they (the Lawrence reserves) play very well. The second quarter (against Notre Dame) was just awful."
   The Cardinals seemed primed to claw their way back into the game early in the third quarter. Lawrence opened the half with a 6-0 run on field goals by Potocki, junior guard John Calvo and Ross to pull within 33-25.
   Graber broke the run with a 3-pointer from the left side. Notre Dame netted two more baskets from behind the arc, opening a 46-34 lead by the end of the quarter.
   "We didn’t guard them (the Fighting Irish shooters)," Tarrant said. "In our last game, we did a much better job, in our halfcourt defense, getting to their shooters."
   The Fighting Irish continued to pound away at Lawrence’s defense, outscoring the Cardinals 11-2 over the first four minutes of the fourth. Eight of the 11 points came on drives to the basket, with the other three coming on Graber’s fifth 3-pointer.
   Notre Dame led 57-36 before Potocki nailed a 3-pointer from the left arc with 3:40 remaining. Tarrant emptied his bench less than half a minute later.
   Potocki netted a team-high 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Brackett finished with nine points, seven rebounds and two steals, while Ross had nine points and five rebounds.
   Sophomore guard Matt Stein had four rebounds and four assists, and junior forward Garrett Santoro also tallied four rebounds. Potocki is the Cardinals’ leading scorer at 13.2 points per game, while Ross is second at 10.1.
   The Cardinals’ performance against Notre Dame was especially disappointing when compared to their effort Friday at Trenton. Potocki dropped in 13 points and Brackett added 10 for Lawrence, which trailed the Colonial Division leading Tornadoes by four heading into the fourth quarter.
   Lawrence eventually fell 57-44.
   "We played our guts out Friday night," Tarrant said. "We moved the ball well. We played together. We played really hard."