Southeastern Eliminates St. John Paul II Boys from Postseason

HYANNIS – The 6th-seeded St. John Paul II boys’ basketball team watched its postseason tourney dreams evaporate at the free-throw line last night and on its home court, as the host Lions went 4-13 from the stripe and fell, 56-55, to the 15th– and last-seeded Southeastern Regional Voke team.

The Lions’ Nick Cassata and Jonny Warden both missed freebies in the fourth quarter after a stellar comeback, with Warden going 1-2 and Cassata missing both chances.

St. John Paul II's Diego Meritus (21), Jonny Warden and Nick Cassata all played well last night but it was not enough as the Lions were eliminated from the postseason by Southeastern Regional Voke, 56-55. Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports file photo

St. John Paul II’s Diego Meritus (21), Jonny Warden and Nick Cassata all played well last night but it was not enough as the Lions were eliminated from the postseason by Southeastern Regional Voke, 56-55.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports file photo

But the comeback was made possible by both players in the first place.

Cassata, back with the Lions for just his second game this season after rehabilitating an early season injury, scored a team-high 19 points, eight of which came in the fourth frame and gave the Lions the chance to come back after being down the entire game. Warden, too, was key in the comeback attempt as he netted 18 points on the night and had three of his team’s 15 points in the last frame.

But coming off a tourney-opening win Tuesday night against Upper Cape Tech, St. John Paul II (15-7) spent most of last night’s MIAA Division 4 South quarterfinal behind the 9-11 Southeastern squad. Southeastern held a 17-12 lead after the first quarter, a 33-25 lead at halftime and a 45-40 edge after three frames.

To their credit, the Lions outscored Southeastern in the fourth quarter, 15-11, but the nine missed free throws came back to haunt the hosts.

Southeastern went 6-9 from the line and Jaylen Jones led all scorers with 20 points. Trey London poured in 14 points for the Hawks as well.

A bit of controversy surrounded the game’s final seconds as St. John Paul II got the ball with 2.2 seconds left and called time out but the clock was not stopped until 0.003 tenths of a second remained and gave the Lions almost no chance to set something up for a game-winning attempt.

Cassata had his shot with 11 seconds to go in the game but both freebies missed their mark.

Warden tacked on seven rebounds and three assists to go along with his 18-point turnout. Cassata, a junior, turned in a double-double by adding 12 rebounds onto his 19 points. Senior Diego Meritus had four points, six assists and four rebounds.

St. John Paul II may have been immeasurably hurt by the second half absence of sharpshooter Kevin Marsh who rolled his ankle in the first half and was held to just three points on the night. Marsh was relegated to watch the second half of his last high school career game from the bench as trainers would not clear him to go back in.

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm

 

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