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| St. Paul junior Matt Garry pulls down one of his 13 rebounds in Thursday’s 63-59 win at Waterbury Career Academy. |
The St. Paul boys basketball team improved to 15-4 on Thursday night with a 63-59 road win over Waterbury Career Academy.
It wasn’t the fact that the Falcons won. They have done that 15 times this season.
It was the fact St. Paul did it without senior co-captain Austin Jones, who was held out with an injury as a precaution, that was impressive.
WCA is a good 9-9 team. More execution in some close games, and the Spartans would be well over .500.
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| St. Paul junior Tyler Arbuckle guards WCA’s Kyren Petteway. |
St. Paul built a 55-45 lead in the fourth quarter on an offensive rebound. WCA used full-court pressure and penetrated to the basket to get back into the game. The Spartans closed to 58-55 on a Matt Torres 3, then Tyler Arbuckle knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
Arbuckle had 21 points, three rebounds and five assists, but he had plenty of help. Lanky, long junior Matt Garry was huge stepping in for Jones. Garry scored nine points and dished out two assists, but it was his 13 rebounds that stood out most.
“He did a great job,” St. Paul head coach Steve Phelps said. “He kind of came of age a little bit.”
Phelps talked about the notion of “next man up”, and it was Garry’s turn to be called with Jones out. One big play from Garry came near the end of the third quarter. Garry snagged an offensive rebound, then passed to senior co-captain Mike Palmieri (15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), who hit a runner from the wing. The basket put the Falcons up 49-42 after three quarters.
“He made some great plays, grabbed some big rebounds,” Phelps said.
There was also 6-foot-3 junior Darek Wiecki, who played big inside with 14 points and seven rebounds. Some of St. Paul’s best offensive plays came when the guards penetrated into the paint and found Wiecki, who was open for layups.
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| St. Paul junior Darek Wiecki pulls down one of his seven rebounds. |
“The credit goes to our kids for the execution part of it,” Phelps said.
Execution got a little shaky in the fourth quarter when WCA turned up the full-court pressure. A 10-point lead was down to 58-55 late in the game.
“Several of those kids are in that situation for the first time, it’s pressure-packed,” Phelps said.
Phelps wants to see his players make calmer, better decisions. On the other hand, they did well at other points.
“Some of those panic areas, they were balanced by some pretty solid decisions,” Phelps said.
St. Paul trailed 30-29 at halftime, but quickly took the lead in the third quarter. Palmieri was big from three-point range, putting the Falcons up 38-34 with one trey, then 45-40 with another. Arbuckle also slashed to the basket and scored or dished off for a score.
The fourth quarter was shaky at points, but St. Paul got the win that it had earned. The Falcons close the regular season next Wednesday at Crosby in another important contest. A win could put St. Paul in position to get three homes in the Class S state tournament.
