2009 POST-SEASON RUN
St. Clement wins playoff title
with three comeback victories
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ROCKAWAY TWP. - When the St. Clement Varsity B-Team went into the fourth quarter of the 2009-10 Upper Morris County CYO Basketball League playoff championship game trailing St. Therese by six points, little did top-seeded St. Therese know the players on the No. 5-seed St. Clement team were right where they wanted to be.
Same story in the semifinal when St. Clement trailed No. 3-seed St. Lawrence by eight points going into the fourth period of play.
Ditto the first-round game when St. Clement and No. 4-seed Corpus Christi were tied going into the final quarter.
In all three games, St. Clement put on a fourth-quarter rally to win, using a 16-8 final period to beat Corpus Christi, 55-47; outscoring St. Lawrence 23-14 in the fourth quarter to escape with a 56-55 victory to earn a spot in the title game; and then riding a 26-14 final period to stun top-seed St. Therese, 58-52, for the playoff championship.
"It was an amazing run," says coach Brian Toohey, their coach now at the Varsity A level. "We were seeded fifth, so I really don't think anybody thought we would do anything in he playoffs."
St. Clement saved its biggest fourth-quarter point production for the championship game, scoring 26 points in the final period of play to erase an eight-point deficit.
Billy Morin scored nine of his 18 points in the final period; Ryan Bornemann scored eight of his 11; and Matt Toohey scored seven of his 18 points in the fourth period.
"We took the lead for good with two minutes to play and then held on for the win," according to Coach Toohey. "It was our highest scoring quarter of the tournament."
Michael Murphy scored five points and Bobby Grubel, Matt Mitarotonda and Kevin Cassidy each scored two points to complete the St. Clement scoring.
In the semifinal against St. Lawrence, St. Clement never led until Morin was fouled at the buzzer and scored the game-winning free throw with no time left on the clock.
A Bornemann 3-point shot with two seconds left on the clock had tied the game at 55-55 and, after a St. Clement timeout, St. Lawrence threw the ball away while inbounding the ball giving St. Clement the ball under the St. Lawrence basket.
"Morin took the inbounds pass and was fouled hard going to the basket as the final buzzer sounded," Toohey explained. "He calmly went to the line and, with not time left on the clock, sank the first of the two free throws he had been awarded to win the game."
The younger Toohey finished with 21 points to lead the St. Clement scoring. Bornemann finished with 17; Morin added 13; Derek Todaro and Cassidy each scored two points; and Grubel had a free throw to complete the St. Clement attack.
The opening-round victory over Corpus Christi wasn't as dramatic as the score was tied 39-39 going into the final period, a period in which St. Clement went 11-for-15 from the free throw line to win the game and advance into the semifinal round.
Matt Toohey led the team with 22 points. Billy Morin added 12 points; Ryan Bornemann finished with six; Michael Murphy had five points; Austin Morris and Kevin Cassidy each scored four; and Bobby Grubel added two points to round out the scoring. Morin and Cassidy each had a team-high nine rebounds.
