Sectional: Cardinal Ritter vs. Guerin Catholic
IN what was a much more physical game than you would have expected early on, Cardinal Ritter set the tone early. So much so that Guerin head coach Pete Smith picked up a technical in what seemed like an attempt to slow things down.
Led by Nate Soltis, Ritter was unrelenting and got out to an early lead. They were up 11 after the first quarter and Guerin was really unable to get any offense going. Midway through the second quarter, Kian Sills and Zach Munson really got going and were able to pull things back in a bit.
Guerin was able to get Luke Godfrey going in the second half and a couple big threes, he was able to help pull it back within a one-possession game. But just as they had done the entire game, Ritter responded with physicality and they were able to push back. Miles Tracy was able to load up on free throws at the end and extend the lead before finishing the game with Ritter moving on, 62-54.
Best Offensive Player: Miles Tracy (Cardinal Ritter)
From the start, Tracy was really impressive. He was doing most of his work faced up and showed the range with a couple threes. He’s so long and that length allows him to do really well in the mid-range. Guerin might have been bigger at their forward spots but he’s much more athletic and mobile and that ability gave him room to make plays all game. He finished with 20 points on 5/8 shooting along with 6 rebound and going 9/11 from the free throw line.
Best Defensive Player: Nate Soltis (Cardinal Ritter)
Setting the tone was kind of the key to this game. Ritter was more physical and did so early on. That was really led by Soltis who wasn’t giving up anything down low. He helped to keep Guerin to only 8 second chance points. Nate finished with 18 points on 7/11 shooting but his 6 rebounds and pair of blocked shots was huge in keeping guys like Munson and Hansen from getting easy buckets.
Biggest Surprise: Physicality
Early on this season, Ritter wasn’t super physical. Maybe more so than other teams but not nearly what they were in this game. That was really a surprise. As the game wore on, it did slow down a bit but at the end, when Guerin threatened, Ritter was able to step it back up and that really was the stopper to every run they wanted to make.
Top Scorers:
Miles Tracy (Ritter) – 20 points, 5/8 shooting, 6 rebound, 2 ast
Luke Godfrey – 13 points, 4/10 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 ast
Team |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Final |
Guerin Catholic | 7 | 19 | 36 | 54 |
Cardinal Ritter | 18 | 27 | 41 | 62 |