By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
When Catholic’s seniors were freshmen, they had a rough welcoming to varsity basketball.
In the season opener on Nov. 24, 2015, Mountain Grove drilled Catholic 84-62 in the Irish’s almost-new gym. Four Catholic freshmen played in that game.
“I remember going into it a little scared because they were Mountain Grove,” said Irish senior guard Mike Manzardo. “They were one of the best teams in the area. It was very nerve-racking. I think we had four freshmen playing… it was a fun environment though.”
Fast forward three-and-a-half years. The freshmen-turned-seniors enjoyed a much more memorable outcome in the final home game of their careers.
Catholic pulled away from Lamar in the fourth quarter to prevail 85-72 on Tuesday night in a Big 8 East-West crossover matchup.
Rogersville claimed the outright Big 8 championship with a 78-68 home win over Nevada.
“The week before your district, you use it to get prepared,” said Irish coach Dustin Larsen. “We knew it’d be a tough game, a physical game. Lamar’s got a good program. We wanted to use it as a stepping stone to continue to get ourselves ready for postseason play.”
Matching their team-first style, Catholic had stellar scoring balance. Seven players scored eight or more, including five in double figures. Manzardo led the way with 17 points.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Since the 2016-17 season, Catholic’s current seniors have helped the Irish win 66 games, including a district title last season.
“Each year they’ve progressed, grown and matured as a group,” Larsen said. “They’ve been tremendous. I can’t say enough about them as a group and individuals.”
The Irish (23-3) head into districts next week as the No. 1 seed in the Class 3 District 11 tournament in Clever.
The Irish open districts at 4 p.m. on Nov. 19 against 8-seed Ava.
Truman Kaderly scored 19 and Jonny Jeffries added 15 points to lead Lamar. The Tigers finish the regular season 15-10 overall.
“We’re here to try to win,” said Lamar coach Matt Powell. “We were fortunate enough, when you play a team like Catholic, that it becomes fun, too. We obviously have nothing to lose. When you play a team like this, you wanna go have fun and try to win.”
Lamar, a No. 3 seed, faces 6-seed El Dorado Springs at 7:45 p.m. next Tuesday night in the Class 3 District 12 quarterfinals at Seneca High School.
Lamar led multiple times throughout the second half against Catholic.
“If we came in here and didn’t get our confidence destroyed, which we didn’t, we could have some momentum rolling into districts,” Powell said. “I think we’ve done that.”
Trailing 17-12 after the first quarter, Catholic put up 31 points in the second quarter to lead by five at halftime. The Irish went to a trapping, full-court press to speed up the tempo.
“It was an interesting flow from the start,” Larsen said. “We got off to a slow start and had to do something to change it up. We decided to turn the pressure up a little bit and speed the game up. You have to do things like that sometimes.”
Catholic surpassed the 80-point mark for the sixth time this season. Lamar surpassed the 70-point mark for the sixth time.
“(The fast tempo) wasn’t necessarily on purpose because we wanted to come in here and play a little bit slower,” Powell said. “I think (Catholic) did a good job of making us uncomfortable to where we were going a little fast. Our kids did a good job of making good decisions when they did have to go fast.”
Jake Branham’s 3-pointer with 5:30 remaining gave Catholic its first double-digit lead of the game, 72-62. Catholic maintained a three-possession lead the rest of the way.
Catholic 85, Lamar 72
Lamar 17 21 20 14 — 72
Catholic 12 31 18 24 — 85
Lamar – Truman Kaderly 19, Jonny Jeffries 15, Case Tucker 12, Landon Hardman 11, J.D. Bishop 10, Travis Bailey 2, Mason Gastel 2, Wyatt Hull 1
Catholic – Michael Manzardo 17, Charlie O’Reilly 14, Ben Galligos 14, Will Morrison 12, Jake Branham 11, Tyson Riley 9, Zach Howell 8
