Senators bumped in first round of states

WATERBURY-- In Tuesday's state class LL opener, the Brien McMahon boys basketball team set itself a tough task: Chase ninth seeded Holy Cross of Waterbury all night.

Crippled by personal fouls, an erratic offense, and a dominant performance by the Crusaders (18-5) under the glass, the Senators (11-10) still caught up to tie the game at 52 with seven minutes left.

In the next 6:15, McMahon outscored Holy Cross 8-7 from the floor, while the Crusaders scored 8 points in five trips to the foul line, compared to the Senators' one point in one trip. With 3:30 left, starter Brian Wade fouled out, and starter Chris Daniel followed him to the bench with 44 seconds left.

That foul line advantage made the final difference as Holy Cross moved to the next round with a 70-64 victory.

"It was definitely a winnable game," McMahon head coach Mo Tomlin said, "but down the stretch, I didn't have my proper rotation, due to the foul situation and then I end up losing Brian Wade, who was playing very well when he was on the boards, then I end up losing Chris Daniel, who is my main rebounder, and it's tough."

Fouls had hampered the Senators all night. Playing aggressive defense, they earned their seventh foul late in the first quarter, with starter Tyler Shular (13 points) already on the bench with three personals.

The second quarter saw Holy Cross play tough in the paint, with their big man Ryan Kolb (18 points) and sophomore power forward Trevon Perry (15 points) doing massive damage inside. Despite treys from Andre McCrae and Magney Bottex, the Crusaders stretched a two-point first quarter lead to 38-30 at halftime as the McMahon offense struggled and took hasty shots.

"That was my halftime speech," Tomlin said. "Settle down, settle down and let's think a little. It seems like we rushed some shots, like we had some bad shot selection and I just wanted them to settle down and execute and make them play some defense."

Settling down worked early as quick baskets from CJ Langley (10 points) cut the lead to 38-34, but the officials called six fouls on McMahon in the first 5:30. When Holy Cross opened it to 50-40, Tomlin called a time out and the Senators regrouped.

Shular rallied the troops with a three-ball, and despite yet another foul call (Wade's third personal), the McMahon defense led a rally.

Back to back steals earned Daniel a foul shot and a dash to the hoop. Lamar Tate (16 points) scored on a putback at the buzzer. The 8-0 run gave the Senators a two-point deficit going into the final quarter.

Joey Tomberlin's putback and easy layup after a long outlet pass from Tate tied the score before the debilitating late-game fouls.

"This team has a tremendous amount of heart," Tomlin summarized. "And they definitely grew throughout the season [ending with a 7-3 run after a 4-6 start]. This is a young bunch. I've got three seniors, who I'm going to miss dearly, Eric Stenger, Brian Wade, and my younger cousin Joey Tomberlin, warriors all three of them.

"In my third year as a head coach, I'll take this season," Tomlin concluded. "I'll take it, and we'll work hard in the off season, and we'll get to where we need to be. Like I told the kids, I guarantee you next year at this time we'll be on the other side of the coin, moving on."