We've seen it before and I don't know what it is. Is it karma, biorhythm, kismet, voodoo? What ever it is it bit the Notre Dame Jugglers last night in the Section III, Class A quarterfinals. The Cortland Purple Tigers looked like another comfortable target on "paper". They had six loses on the season, including two L's against East Syracuse-Minoa, a four point win over Phoenix and an overtime win against Oneida. So, the Juggler faithful had no reason to expect what happened to their team.
What the Juggler faithful may have overlooked on that same sheet of "paper" was the fact that the Purple Tigers also had several players who could hurt any team in Class A in a big way. Joel White and big man Tom Wilk presented one of the best one-two combinations they had seen this season. ND fans would need to look further on that "paper" to find the name of Levi Walrath and he was a major thorn in the side of ND.
What happened? Were they over confident? Cocky? Flat? All of the above?
What they were was down 16-0 before they got their first points on the scoreboard, almost five minutes into the game. Notre Dame came down and fired several three the first several times they came down the court. Nothing happened. Not only that, they only got the one shot off on those trips to the north end of Michael Walsh Gym. At the south end, Cortland was scoring at will and before Notre Dame knew it the scoreboard read 9-0, 11-0…16-0.
OK, ND still had that great press and could climb back, even if it looked like the climb was up Mt. Hood. But, the Purple Tigers handled that press with great ease. The same press that gave New Hartford and VVS and Fayetteville-Manlius fits was regularly broken for easy lay ups by Cortland. If, in boxing, styles make fights…in this case, the Cortland in court composition made this tactic ineffective.
Wilk was good, active presence on the court. But, he didn’t score at his average level…that’s because Walrath was above his average performance – stinging ND for 24. Joel White, as good a player as the locals have seen this season, killed the Jugglers offensively and defensively. He led the Purple Tigers with 30 points.
The Jugglers were not without heroes of their own. Kendrick Pollard scratched and fought and led ND almost all the way back. But, having to erase a 19 point lead over three periods makes that climb more like Mt. Everest. Still, they almost got there. Notre Dame cut all but four points off the Cortland lead with a little more than a minute and a half left in the game…but couldn’t close the deal. Missed free throws, a few travels and the inability to shut down Cortland with the press did in ND down the stretch and the Tigers hit their free throws as the Jugglers sent them to the line.
One thing that stood out to me in this one…Notre Dame had only two team fouls in the first half. You might think…well, that’s good. What it told me is that ND was not their normal, aggressive selves. There was not that level of intensity that was the trademark of ND basketball through the Juggler Classic, but for some reason things deteriorated after that. They got two overtime wins and were blown out at VVS. They didn’t look that sharp in their win over Homer. While this starting five may ranked among the best ND has had in several years, this time was not as deep as past editions of Notre Dame basketball. Did that wear these guys out?
You tell me.
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I attended the ND game myself. First of all hats off to Cortland for playing a very smart and sound game. In basketball you cant take anything for granted and as we saw "on any given night..." In my opinion I thought a few factors led to ND's downfall. The first was was Steve Campbell playing ill ? If he was it was quite obvious. If not then I dont know what court he was on but it was not at ND. Thus the depth comes into play and it showed. Also, Cortland handled the ball very well and had a perfect inside outside game going for them. They did shoot lights out in the fist quarter which set the tone. ND did look exhausted after their 3rd quarter run. When you play catch up basketball you are out of your normal rhythm and everyone tries to be the hero. Nevertheless, although another sectional crown and banner will not hang from Michael Walsh Gymnasium this year, it was a very successful year for sure. ND fans have been spoiled over the years and although this pill was hard to swallow someday they will be back with another strong team. Good luck to the remaining teams in the area.
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