Chaminade Defeats Walt Whitman 49-40 at Long Island Challenge

The game was more gritty than pretty, but the boys varsity basketball team was able to hold on against the Walt Whitman Wildcats, 49-40, in the 2010 Long Island Challenge hosted by Saint Dominic High School on Saturday.

"It was a tough game. They sat in a zone for most of the game, which forced us to rely on and make the outside shot," Flyer varsity coach Jim Quinn said after the game. "It was an ugly game, but we have to win these types of games."

The contest was certainly tough. Both sides played a physical, aggressive style of play with a lot of jarring and jockeying for position down low. Walt Whitman's 3-2 zone proved to be effective in the early goings as the Flyers' big men didn't see many opportunities in the first half.

Chaminade's press defense was able to help their offense by forcing 24 turnovers. The Flyers took a 21-17 lead in to the locker room at halftime.

Despite the defensive pressure by both teams, Chaminade's offense would come out raining threes in the second half, as they outscored the Wildcats 20-12 in the third quarter.

"Take the same shots," Quinn told his team at halftime. "We're a good shooting team, we just had to keep taking shots and they're bound to start falling in."

Thanks to off-the-ball screens and an unselfish mentality, Chaminade was able to find holes and stretch out Walt Whitman coach Tom Fitzpatrick's zone scheme. Much of the credit goes to Flyers guard Kevin Sheehy, whose team-high 12 points earned him game MVP honors.

"They're definitely a physical team, but we were able to knock down shots in the second half," Sheehy said after the game.

However, trailing 41-29 entering the fourth quarter, Fitzpatrick abandoned his 3-2 zone and implemented a press of his own. "We changed up the defense and gambled a little bit and it worked out," Fitzpatrick said.

The gamble paid off for the Wildcats, as the press defense was able to hold the Flyers to eight fourth quarter points. With just under two minutes left, the Wildcats cut their deficit to five, trailing 45-40, but would end up being the last points Whitman would score as turnovers continued to hurt.

"It was a great game. Last year we lost by 45 points, which motivated us a little bit today," Fitzpatrick said. "We're happy with our play, where it was our first game. We're certainly not satisfied, though."

Daniel Guardado, senior guard for Walt Whitman, led all scorers with 13 points while senior big man Myles Jones tallied 11 points and nine rebounds.

Chaminade center Richard Zoller III scored seven points and amassed 12 rebounds, while forward James McCaffrey scored eight points.

"We hope to win Catholic League championship this year," Sheehy said. "We lost in the semifinals last year. Hopefully we'll fly under-the-radar this year and sneak up on some teams."

Sheehy and Chaminade will start on that goal when they .

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