Never in doubt.
From the opening tip to the final horn, St. Rita was in complete control on Friday during a 61-34 win over T.F. North in the Class 4A T.F. South Regional championship.
The No. 2 seeded Mustangs opened the game with an 8-0 run and never looked back against the No. 10 Meteors (15-9).
St. Rita (25-3) advances to Wednesday’s Eisenhower Sectional semifinal against Thornwood, a 44-42 winner Friday over Marian Catholic.
The regional championship is the second straight for the Mustangs.
“It’s good for the school but that’s not our goal,” said St. Rita senior Kain Harris of the regional title. “We want to win a state championship.”
As good as Friday’s performance was, the Mustangs will definitely need to cut down on their turnovers and improve their rebounding to make a 4A title run a reality.
St. Rita committed 20 turnovers and watched T.F. North pull down 37 rebounds, including 26 on the offensive end.
“You can’t turn the ball over that many times and move forward in this tournament,” St. Rita coach Gary DeCesare said. “We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and crashing the boards.”
Four players finished with double figures in scoring for the Mustangs, led by Charles Matthews’ 16 points. Chris Williams (13 points), Armani Chaney (11 points, 5 assists) and Kain Harris (10 points) also reached double digits. Matthews added 10 boards and Myles Carter contributed five points, eight rebounds and six blocks.
The 6-foot-8 Myles was a menacing presence inside, constantly forcing the Meteors to alter their shot attempt when driving to the basket. Carter played a huge part in T.F. North shooting just 12 of 65 from the field.
“They had us altering a lot of shots,” T.F. North coach Tim Bankston said. “They’re bigger, stronger and faster than us. We had to play a perfect game to beat them.”
Christian Johnson registered a double-double for T.F. North, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sadiq Salisu added eight points for the Meteors, who finished 3-for-18 from the 3-point stripe.
St. Rita had no such problem making shots, converting 19 of 34 field goal attempts.
“We have to do a better job of rebounding,” said Matthews, a Kentucky recruit. “I thought we did a good job of using our athleticism and forcing them to shoot over us and not around us. Personal stats don’t matter as long as we win.”
When Matthews knocked down a 3-pointer and threw down a dunk to start the second quarter, the Mustangs opened up an 18-5 advantage. T.F. North, which misfired on 10 of its first 11 shot attempts, never got within single digits the rest of the way.
Carter wowed the near-capacity crowd not only with his shot-blocking, but with a pair of powerful jams that had the backboard swaying.
“Myles did a great job of altering a lot of shots in the bottom of our zone (defense),” DeCesare said. “T.F. North is a really good 10 seed. They rebound the ball and get after it. Our guys had to be up to the challenge and they were.”
Twitter @disabato
