HIGH-SCHOOL

Dover rallies in fourth to stun BG

Green Wave overcome 12-point deficit to win seventh game in D-I

Tim MacLean sports@fosters.com

DOVER — When Dover’s Josh White stepped up to the free throw line, a two-point lead in the Green Wave’s hand, you would have thought the senior guard was trying to put the finishing touches on a tough, back-and-forth game. But with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, White was helping to complete what was an incredible comeback.

Trailing by 12 points entering the final quarter, Dover (7-7) rode stout defense and second efforts on offense to victory, outscoring Bishop Guertin (5-9) 27-11 to secure a 61-57 win over the Cardinals in Division I.

“I think we just brought more energy in the second half,” Dover’s Griffin Carloni said. “We were talking more, we were hustling a lot more and it just really worked out for us on the offensive and defensive end. We made plays when it counted.”

Carloni helped spearhead the Green Wave’s renewed energy. The senior guard was huge coming up with loose ball after loose ball, particularly on the offensive glass where he pulled down five of his team’s missed shots that led to second-chance points from the field and at the line that kept it close down the stretch.

“Griffin was huge with his offensive rebounds,” Dover coach Matt Fennessy said. “But you also had Willem (Federico) with a huge rebound, Josh’s (White) 3 was huge in the fourth. He made free throws down the stretch. I thought Kingsley (Breen) was great tonight and Ty (Vitko) just kept making his free throws.”

Following a pair of free throws made by BG’s Joseph DaSilva (17 points), Breen set up White with the chance to knock down the clutch 3 from the left corner that tied the game at 54 with 1:28 left in the game. Another DaSilva freebie put the Cardinals back out in front by one, but Carloni earned a trip to the line with 58 seconds remaining after an offensive rebound.

Dover then went on to make three straight free throws — two from Vitko, one from Michael Kimball-Polchies — to give the Green Wave a 59-55 four-point cushion with just 16 seconds left. A DaSilva layup cut Dover’s lead down to two, but White put the game away with his free throws.

“We just didn’t do anything to win the game,” BG coach Matt Regan said. “We missed layups, too many guys didn’t want the ball, there was multiple times where they were pressing us and we’d get it to a guy where all we had to do was attack and we just didn’t. They just held it and I’m not sure why. It just wasn’t good.”

BG had been the better team throughout the first two-and-a-half quarters. The Cardinals started the game off by hitting 4-of-5 threes to jump out to a 12-6 lead and ultimately entered the second up 16-8. BG then outscored Dover 14-10 in the frame and took a 30-18 advantage into the halftime break. It wasn’t until Dover switched to a zone pressure defense about midway through the third that BG started having trouble. The momentum was slowly shifting in Dover’s favor.

“We were even with them in the third quarter,” Fennessy said. “We expended so much energy so it was just time for us to be a senior-led group in the fourth and take care of a younger team (in BG).”

It’s safe to say Dover got the message.

GREEN WAVE 61, CARDINALS 57

DOVER (61)

Vitko 3-10-16, Breen 3-7-13, Carloni 3-4-10, White 2-2-7, Casey 2-0-5, Federico 1-3-5, Kimball-Polchies 1-1-3, Krick 1-0-2. Totals: 16-27-61.

BISHOP GUERTIN (57)

DaSilva 5-5-17, Matarazzo 4-0-10, Mullett 3-1-7, Arika 3-0-6, Carroll 2-0-6, Hiscoe 2-0-5, Baker 1-0-2, Camacho 1-0-2, Tedesco 1-0-2. Totals: 22-6-57.

Dover 8 10 16 27–61

Bishop Guertin 16 14 16 11–57

3-Point Goals-Dover 2 (Casey, White), Bishop Guertin 7 (Carroll 2, DaSilva 2, Matarazzo 2, Hiscoe).