Brothers hand Patriots first loss

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Christian Brothers Academy struggled to score and gave up a bunch at the outset of its early-season Big 10 showdown with fellow unbeaten Schenectady Tuesday night.

Neither trend lasted very long.

“We put it together in the second quarter, and in the second half, we came out and took off,” CBA sophomore Joe Krong said after his team’s 79-57 comeback victory against its longtime rival. “Everything started to flow.”

Krong beat the buzzer with a three-point shot to cap a 27-10 second-quarter thrust, and the Brothers opened the third frame with a 10-1 spurt in beating the Patriots for the ninth consecutive time, and

denying them a 5-0 start for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

CBA (6-0, 6-0) trailed by nine after eight minutes, 20-11, before reversing its fortune against the quicker though smaller Patriots.

“We didn’t do everything perfect, but we did a lot of good things,” CBA coach Dave Doemel said. “We made plays when we needed to make plays. We made some shots, got some rebounds and made

defensive stops. It was good.”

The Brothers defended the Pat­riots (4-1, 4-1) like no opponent had before, with their man-to-man effort punctuated by the strong second quarter when Schenectady managed just three field goals.

“Coach gave us a little speech in the huddle, and I don’t think he said one word about offense,” said CBA senior Kameron Ritter. “He said we had to play defense. He has a way of getting us motivated.”

Derrick Millinghaus generated 10 of his 25 points in the first quarter for Schenectady, hitting two threes, while Devonte Millinghaus nailed another.

“If they’re hitting shots like that and we’re in their face, I’d feel better, but we weren’t in their face,” Doemel said. “We were laying off, and I told the guys we needed to get out there. We had to take that away.”

The reigning Section II Class AA champions took just about everything away in the second period, and flourished at the offensive end, as Max Weaver, Ritter and Josh Dennis led a balanced assault with seven, six and five points, respectively.

Dennis and Weaver connected on threes in a 13-2 run to begin the quarter — Weaver’s hoist giving CBA its first lead at 24-22 with 4:25 left — and Krong capped the outburst with his long ball from the right wing to make it 38-30.

“It felt good. It was like a dagger,” said Krong, who finished with five points. “Galal [Cancer] gave me a good pass, I hit it, and their emotions went right down.”

Ritter and Dennis hit threes, Cancer dropped in a short jumper and Weaver had a layup during the 10-1, third-quarter run as CBA extended its advantage to 48-31.

“We executed well in that second quarter,” said Doemel. “We needed that, and we needed that good start in the third quarter because they can get back into a game fast.”

Ritter led the state’s No. 12-ranked Class AA team with 21 points and three steals, and Cancer totaled a season-high 20 points and eight rebounds. Weaver added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Jack Reilly had a season-high 10 points and eight boards.

“Kameron and Galal, they go out and get it, but the other guys have to complement them,” Doemel said. “They did, and they did it well. For us to be successful, those other guys have to be there.”

Devonte Millinghaus had eight points, and Shadell Millinghaus added seven with four assists, all of them coming in Schenectady’s first-quarter charge.

“They came out hard, and I think we underestimated their speed a little bit,” said Ritter. “After that we settled down.”

Schenectady answered CBA’s 10-1 third-quarter run with one of its own, that coming after Derrick Millinghaus took an elbow to the face and had to exit the game with a bloody lip. Upon his return, the senior guard scored five points in the push and Shadell Millinghaus ended it with a layup to get the Pats within 49-41 before Ritter scored on a three and a layup, and Krong scored on a drive.

SCHENECTADY

Long 2-1-5, Der. Millinghaus 10-1-25, Dev. Millinghaus 3-1-8, S. Millinghaus 3-1-7, Pitts 1-0-2, Tarver 1-3-5, Williams 2-1-5. Totals: 22-8-57.

CBA

Weaver 4-3-12, Krong 2-0-5, Cusato 1-0-3, G. Cancer 8-4-20, Dennis 3-0-8, Ritter 8-3-21, Reilly 5-0-10. Totals: 31-10-79.

Schenectady 20 10 13 14 — 57

CBA 11 27 19 23 — 79

Three-point goals: Der. Millinghaus 4, Dev. Millinghaus, Weaver, Krong, Cusato, Dennis 2, Ritter 2.

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Categories: High School Sports, Sports