Forward Mike Walsh had seen St. Mary’s Jessie Govan coming, knew the 6’9” freshman’s ultimate goal would be the net just above the junior’s head Tuesday night. Against probably most of a sane person’s better judgments, better instincts, up by three, Walsh planted his feet and took the charge, drawing the foul late in the fourth quarter that helped the Flyers end their regular season with a 67-60 win.
“I knew he had 4,” the junior forward said of Govan. “I knew that it was a big play and I knew we had talked about it before the game, coach said he likes to dribble right, dribble right, use his shoulder to get to his right. I knew he wanted it, I was in the middle of the paint, just took it.”
Walsh took it enough for a turnover which – despite having a minor wardrobe malfunction – allowed the Flyers to finish the game with an 11-4 run.
“We’ve had great ball movement the entire season and they continue doing that and they worked hard on defense,” Chaminade head coach Jim Quinn said, notching victory No. 425, his last regular season win of his career. “What we’ve got to do now is only enjoy this game a few minutes and worry about the playoffs.”
Those will start on Friday as the Flyers (14-8, 7-5) will host St. Anthony’s in the first round.
“Momentum leads to the playoffs,” Chaminade point guard John Gallego said as his squad wrapped up the No. 4 seed – no easy task against the , regardless of how many seniors they lost to graduation.
Momentum was a fickle mistress for both sides until late Tuesday, with five turnovers between the two squads in the third, with 10 lead changes in the fourth quarter alone, with the Flyers pressing and missing shots and with the Gaels making steals and picking off rebounds.
Again Chaminade turned to Gallego, their 5’9” senior, who has been .
“We’re a good shooting team and every night it can be a different guy,” the Flyer senior said.
Tonight just happened to be his once more.
Gallego racked up 23 points – five of them from downtown – and 8 assists, including a rare 4-point play after being fouled on one of his fieldgoals. “As a senior you try to be a leader but it’s my teammates that make it all click.”
1 2 3 4 F Chaminade High School 24 11 18 20 67 St. Mary’s 16 19 19 10 60Chaminade Scoring Statistics Player Position FGs 3PTs FTs Points Assts Rebs John Patterson Center 9 0 5 23 1 10 John Gallego Guard 2 5 1 20 8 1 Patrick Farrell Forward 2 1 6 13 3 6 Mike Walsh Forward 4 0 2 10 5 8 Thomas Ahern Guard 1 1 2 7 4 3
St. Mary’s Scoring Statistics Player FGs 3PTs FTs Points Travis Whitfield 11 0 2 24 Jessie Govan 7 0 0 14 Wilson Molina 3 2 1 13 Christian Vitale 4 0 2 10 Stephen Ajoki 1 0 2 3
