By Liam O’Brien
Sports Reporter
Hampered by a slow start, the Lions saw their tournament run come to a close at the hands of Catholic Memorial in the D1 South Semifinal, falling 100-73 in front of a packed house in West Roxbury.
A fearless, aggressive mindset lead South to a first-round upset over Brockton, and, with Brockton beating CM just two weeks ago, optimism was running high. However, the Lions couldn’t contain the high-octane offensive attack of Catholic Memorial led by Dartmouth commit Guilien Smith.
Despite receiving a near triple-double from Geoffrey Gray, who posted 12 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds, 20 points from Mark Karmiy, and four threes from Jack Groper, the Knights dictated the tempo from the beginning, jumping out to a 27-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and increasing that advantage to 53-27 at halftime.
Catholic Memorial racked up 14 assists on their first 20 made field goals, while scoring in transition at every possible opportunity with 25 of their first-half points coming off the fast break. The Knights also shot an impressive 52% from three, including four from guard Denis Tobin Jr. in the first half alone.
“They really tried to push it even when we scored,” junior guard Alex Kiritsy (6 assists) said. “Also, the combination of us missing some shots that we usually make and them shooting very well made their system look even better.”
Smith lead CM with 24 points to accompany his nine rebounds, while juniors Kellan Grady and Brandon Twitty contributed 21 and 20, respectively.
The lopsided margin came as a surprise as South nearly knocked off the third-seeded Knights at home in January, falling in overtime by a score of 89-84.
“Our defense was much better in January and we made some tough shots that we didn’t make this time,” Kiritsy said, comparing Saturday’s loss to the team’s first outing against Catholic Memorial. “Credit to CM for shooting very well and playing much better than last time.”
The Lions finish a successful season with a 14-9 record and yet another playoff victory on their resumé. Despite having nine losses on their record, South fell to only five teams, losing twice to crosstown rival Newton North, twice each to Dual County League opponents Westford and Cambridge, twice to CM, and once to a tough Concord-Carlisle squad.
“While I think we could have gone even farther, it was a great season,” Kiritsy said. “We really surprised a lot of people.”
