Mike Cerone of Regis High in Manhattan rebounded the last missed shot by St. Mary’s with 9 seconds to play, was fouled and made a final free throw to finish of a 56-50 victory over the Lancers in the State Catholic High Schools Class B boys basketball championship game at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx.
The rebound was the 18th of the game for Cerone, a 6-foot-4 junior, who finished with 16 points.
A three-pointer by Conor Peterson with five minutes left gave Regis (17-11) the lead for good, 44-42.
Regis was clinging to a 48-47 lead with 3:21 left before running off four straight points on a pair of free throws by Charles Gavigan and a layup by Cerone to build a five-point lead with 2:01 remaining.
St. Mary’s ended its season with a 19-8 overall record. The Lancers were 12-2 in the Monsignor Martin Association with losses to only Canisius and Bishop Timon-St. Jude.
It was the sixth straight year that St. Mary’s has played in the State Catholic Class B championship game, losing the last three. The Lancers won their third state title in 2011. The others were in 2004 and 2011.
It was the fifth Catholic state championship for the Raiders, who’ll play Brooklyn Community, the New York City Public Schools champ, in the semifinals of the Federation tournament in Albany Saturday.
The rebound was the 18th of the game for Cerone, a 6-foot-4 junior, who finished with 16 points.
A three-pointer by Conor Peterson with five minutes left gave Regis (17-11) the lead for good, 44-42.
Regis was clinging to a 48-47 lead with 3:21 left before running off four straight points on a pair of free throws by Charles Gavigan and a layup by Cerone to build a five-point lead with 2:01 remaining.
St. Mary’s ended its season with a 19-8 overall record. The Lancers were 12-2 in the Monsignor Martin Association with losses to only Canisius and Bishop Timon-St. Jude.
It was the sixth straight year that St. Mary’s has played in the State Catholic Class B championship game, losing the last three. The Lancers won their third state title in 2011. The others were in 2004 and 2011.
It was the fifth Catholic state championship for the Raiders, who’ll play Brooklyn Community, the New York City Public Schools champ, in the semifinals of the Federation tournament in Albany Saturday.