The first half was an exciting but not particularly a well played half by either team. The Cardinals used the first six minutes of the game to get off to a 13-4 lead. The Spartans slowly worked away at their deficit until they finally drew even at 17 with 9:27 remaining in the half. The Spartans forged head by four at 21-17 but the Cardinals promptly answered the Spartan surge with an 11-2 run that gave the visitors a 28-23 lead with 4:34 remaining prior to the half. Catholic settled for a 33-30 lead at the intermission. It is the third straight game that the Spartans have trailed at the half.
York needed less than four minutes to start the second half to pull even and then take the lead as Brian Singer converted a pair of free throws. The teams exchanged the lead four times over the next two minutes before Brandon Bushey hit a trey from the corner that gave the Spartans a 44-42 lead. The lead went between two and four points over the next three minutes before the Spartans tried the pull away. Catholic kept the Spartans within reach until the Spartans went on a huge 11-0 run. The run turned a 60-57 lead into a 71-57 bulge with 1:01 remaining. The run was keyed by three Paddy Lee layups including a pair of tip-ins and was capped by a Brad Zerfing three point play. The Spartans salted away the win with nine straight free throws over the last 1:01 of the game.
York had all five starters reach double figures for the green and white. Bushey led York with 18 points, three steals, and two assists. Junior Kenny Fass added 13 points, four assists, seven rebounds, and three steals with no turnovers in 34 minutes of action. Senior Ben Seibert recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Of Seibert’s 11 rebounds, four were offensive rebounds and three directly led to second-chance points for the Spartans. Lee added 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 28 minutes. Singer was the fifth Spartan starter and he contributed 10 points, two rebounds, and three blocked shots. Zerfing added nine points and four assists with no turnovers.
Shane Sowden led all scorers with 20 points while he also had four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Scott Fumai contributed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. All 10 of Fumai’s rebounds came in the first half. Mike Wasilenko was the third Cardinal in double figures with 10 points. He had a game-high tying six assists but did commit seven turnovers for CUA.
The Spartans turned it up in the second half after shooting just 40% in the first stanza. York converted 17-of-28 (60.7%) from the floor in the second half including 11 huge second-chance points. The Spartans outscored the visitors 49-31 in the second half as York improves to a perfect 8-0 at Wolf Gym this season.
The Spartans’ current nine game win streak ties the 2001-2002 team for the second longest streak in school history, four wins back of the school record of 13, established in 1994-95.
The Spartans, who are all alone in first place in the CAC at 4-1, return to action on Saturday when they travel to Mary Washington College for a Capital Athletic Conference contest. Game time in Fredericksburg is set for 4:00 pm.
Catholic vs York (Pa.) 1/19/05 8:45 pm at Charles Wolf Gym-York, PA At Charles Wolf Gym-York, PA YORK (PA.) 79, CATHOLIC 64 CATHOLIC (10-5, 3-2 CAC) Shane Sowden 8-12 4-7 20; Mike Wasilenko 4-8 2-2 10; Scott Fumai 3-9 1-2 10; Patrick Dwyer 4-11 0-0 8; Matt Spierenburg 4-5 0-0 8; Pat Satalin 2-13 0-0 6; Stephen Wheeler 1-1 0-0 2; Tim Burke 0-1 0-0 0; Steven Papageorge 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 7-11 64. YORK (PA.) (14-1, 4-1 CAC) Brandon Bushey 8-15 0-1 18; Kenny Fass 6-10 0-0 13; Brian Singer 3-7 4-8 10; Paddy Lee 5-7 0-0 10; Ben Seibert 4-6 2-2 10; Brad Zerfing 2-7 5-6 9; Chad McGowan 2-9 1-2 5; Josh Wurtz 1-2 0-0 2; Joe Yeck 0-0 2-2 2; Chris Cioffi 0-0 0-0 0; Shane Beccio 0-0 0-0 0; Dan Klunk 0-0 0-0 0; Pat D'Arcy 0-0 0-0 0; Chris Folland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 14-21 79. Catholic...................... 33 31 - 64 York (Pa.).................... 30 49 - 79 3-point goals-Catholic 5-16 (Scott Fumai 3-7; Pat Satalin 2-6; Patrick Dwyer 0-1; Steven Papageorge 0-1; Mike Wasilenko 0-1), York (Pa.) 3-14 (Brandon Bushey 2-6; Kenny Fass 1-2; Paddy Lee 0-2; Brad Zerfing 0-1; Chad McGowan 0-2; Josh Wurtz 0-1). Fouled out--Catholic-None, York (Pa.)-None. Rebounds-Catholic 34 (Scott Fumai 10), York (Pa.) 40 (Ben Seibert 11). Assists-Catholic 15 (Mike Wasilenko 6), York (Pa.) 18 (Paddy Lee 6). Total fouls-Catholic 17, York (Pa.) 15. A-415