By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Zach Howell led all scorers on the opening night of the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions. But the Catholic hotshot’s 30-point performance didn’t come in a winning effort.
Howell and the Irish fell to Paul VI (Virginia) 60-55 Thursday.
Howell kept Catholic close throughout the game, scoring 15 points in each half.
Paul VI’s DeShawn Harris-Smith fouled out midway through the fourth quarter with 18 points, after defending Howell.
“I was chasing him around the whole game. I was getting tired,” Harris-Smith said. “He moves without the ball a lot. He was running through down-screens and I was trying to play through them. We were having trouble talking through the ball-screens, so he was getting shots that he wanted. There are a lot of great players here and he is one of them.”
Howell was 9-of-23 from the field, including 5-of-14 3-point land.
Paul VI coach Glenn Farrello was impressed Howell was able to stay so involved offensively, considering he was Panthers’ primary focus defensively.
“We were trying to keep the ball out of his hands completely in the second half. He still got 10 shots off,” Farrello said. “That’s being smart, tough, reading screens the right way and being efficient. He wasn’t just being a shooter, he was a scorer.”
With Howell scoring eight points in the first five minutes of the game, Catholic jumped on top 12-6.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Irish were up 19-14 a minute into the second quarter.
Paul VI turned things around with a 16-4 run to close the first half with a 30-23 lead.
Howell’s only bucket in the third quarter came on a tip-in, but Catholic was still within range of Paul VI, trailing 47-38.
Howell turned it on again in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points in the first four minutes.
Liam O’Reilly made two free throws with 4:11 remaining and the Irish were within one point of the lead, 52-51.
O’Reilly finished with 14 points and six assists.
Catholic outrebounded Paul VI 30-25 and had 10 offensive boards. Major Riley pulled down eight rebounds.
“Gritty,” Farrello said of Catholic. “I love how they played. They play the game the right way. They play together. They had a purpose for how they wanted to execute offensively. We weren’t able to break away from them and extend our lead when we had chances. I was impressed how composed they stayed. Major respect for them.”
It was still a one-possession ball game at 57-54 with 1:15 left when Howell hit a 3-pointer.
With Catholic trailing 59-55, Howell had a 3-point attempt with :25 left go in and out of the bucket
Even with Harris-Smith having fouled out, Paul VI was clutch in the final minutes with its ball-handling and free-throw shooting.
Farrello didn’t regret playing Harris-Smith while he had four fouls.
“I’m going to have them learn how to play through foul trouble,” Farrello said. “I really don’t like having guys sit on the bench with two or three fouls. I’m going to play them.
“DeShawn is the heart and soul of our team,” Farrello added. “He didn’t have his best performance. The first thing he said to me after the game was, ‘Sorry coach,’ and he told his teammates, ‘Thanks for picking me up.’ That’s what I love about him. He recognizes how good he can be and how impactful he is.”
Paul VI advances to meet Milton (Georgia) in a semifinal tonight at 9:30.
Catholic faces Nixa in a consolation contest at 6 p.m. It’s a rematch from the Blue & Gold Tournament last month.
Paul VI 60, Catholic 55
CATHOLIC (55) — Roubal 1-3 0-0 3, O’Reilly 6-14 2-2 14, Howell 9-23 7-8 30, Lyon 1-5 1-2 3, Riley 1-2 3-4 5, Kruger 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 13-16 55.
PAUL VI (60) — Hammond 4-7 2-4 10, Harris-Smith 7-11 3-3 18, McDaniel 5-12 3-4 14, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Gurdak 2-3 0-0 4, Boggs 0-3 0-0 0, Norton 0-0 1-2 1, Womack 5-6 2-5 13. Totals 23-45 11-18 60.
Catholic 14 9 15 17 – 55
Paul VI 12 18 17 13 – 60
3-point goals – Howell 5, Roubal, Harris-Smith, McDaniel, Womack.
