Toughness and 3-Point Shooting Lead CBC past CCP

Toughness+and+3-Point+Shooting+Lead+CBC+past+CCP

Two weeks ago, Caleb Love and CBC went into the Chaminade Athletictron and handed the Red Devils their first loss from an area team. Friday night, the Cadets gave Chaminade their second loss from an area team, but this time CBC did it at home. And just like last time, Caleb Love was on fire.

The McDonald’s All-American came out on fire, responding to an early Chaminade 3 by dropping one of his own. After 3-pointers from sophomore Rob Martin and senior Chevalier Brenson and a thunderous dunk by Mike West, Love got back in the action with a mid-range jump shot and a deep three that forced a Chaminade timeout and put the Cadets up 16-9 midway through the first quarter.

Following Chaminade’s score out of the timeout, Love hit another 3. CCP turned the ball over on their ensuing offensive possession, which lead to a fast break bucket by Rob Martin, and when the Devils gave the ball back to the Cadets, the UNC commit received the inbounds pass and sunk his fourth three of the fist quarter. The home team was up 24-11.

CBC kept their foot on the gas, ballooning the lead up to 38-23, highlighted by a Love windmill dunk on a fast break and a successful drive to the rim by Larry Hughes Jr. that forced the whistle getting the and-one call. From there, Chaminade started to get their offense going. Sophomore guard Damien Mayo and senior guard Matteus Case both hit three pointers, Tarris Reed received an entry pass into the paint and laid the ball up into the basket, Reed also hit a three pointer the next possession, and Mayo scored a fast break basket which seemed to send CCP into halftime only down 8, 46-38, but then a late CBC three from Mikhail Abdul-hamid put the Cadets up 11 going into the intermission.

Coming out of the break, Love rocked the house grabbing an alley-oop pass from Robert Martin and slamming it down. The Red Devil offense responded and got the team back into the game. A mid-range jump shot from Jaden Winfield and a 3-point shot from Luke Kasubke forced coach Justin Tatum to take a timeout. After multiple defensive stops, a soft finish at the rim as well as a big-time dunk from Reed, two three-point baskets from Case, and a transition layup in traffic from Kasubke, Chaminade entered the fourth quarter down 59-56, with all the momentum in the world.

It was more than two minutes of game time before either of the teams scored again. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, CBC’s and-1 score fueled a 7-0 run that separated the teams by ten. Harrison Vickers’s tomahawk dunk in transition stopped the run. His forceful slam was followed by a Matteus Case fast break layup, bringing the score to 66-60. For the remainder of the night, the score would never be that close.

The Red Devil squad started to unravel. After Chaminade had committed more than seven fouls in the third quarter, the Cadets entered the fourth in the bonus. A CBC three throw and Caleb Love three was the beginning of the end. Anytime the Devils would score, CBC would answer. The final score was 88-75 Cadets.

Friday night’s result puts Chaminade second in the MCC standings with a 3-2 conference record, both of those losses coming to CBC. For the Devils to even have a chance of tying for a conference title, the squad must win three straight road MCC games, but that’s not all. The Devils must also rely on an unlikely upset by one of the other three MCC teams over CBC. If CBC wins the remainder of their MCC games, they will have won St. Louis’s toughest conference for the second straight year.

Chaminade’s biggest problem all year, turnovers, continued to be their Achilles Heel on Friday. Turnovers killed Red Devil momentum when the team was down 59-56. Chaminade had two turnovers and two misses that prevented them from taking the lead going into the fourth. CBC missed multiple shots during that time and gave CCP the chance to capitalize, they couldn’t.

The team returns Tuesday night at Vianney. Getting back on the winning track is very important for Chaminade as the district tournament is fast approaching. Losing to CBC was a big step back; however, the Red Devils showed some good things during the game, like excellent shooting and solid post play from Reed. Chaminade plays at 6:30 on Tuesday.

 

Overall Record: 12-4

MCC Record: 3-2

Next Game: Tuesday February 4th, 6:30 at Vianney.