Hoop Group Tip-Off: Don Bosco Prep wins an ugly one against Gill St. Bernard’s

In a game hampered by tons a fouls and turnovers, both Don Bosco Prep and Gill St. Bernard’s we’re plagued by multiple lost opportunities in a very ugly overtime win for Don Bosco Prep.

Both teams had lost their star players to disqualifications and Gill lost a total of four to 5th fouls in a 50 foul game in the Hoop Group Tip Off.

It was a tale of two teams that essentially were carbon copies of each other, and it seemed hard for both all day long to get going in a very tightly called game. The ball seemed like it was out of bounds more than it was inbounds as the teams combined for ten fouls in the first quarter and 19 for the half.

Mathew Hersame had four points for Don Bosco Prep in the first, which led 12-8 after the first quarter. Alex Schancne got Gill St. Bernard’s going in the 2nd quarter with nine, while Ron Harper had eight for Don Bosco Prep, but the 19 fouls total for the half along with the countless turnovers and missed layups made for an ugly first half of basketball for both teams.

Don Bosco Prep lead 25-24 at the half.

In the 3rd quarter, the teams picked up right where they left off as there were six fouls in the first four minutes and a lot of missed shots until Gill’s super sophomore Paul Mulchay cut the Bosco lead to 32-29 with 3:22 to go in the 3rd quarter after an eight point Bosco advantage. They did this by holding Don Bosco Prep star player Chris Paul in check with four points through three quarters all from the foul line.

In the 4th Quarter, Paul had an and-1 with 5:43 to go in the 4th that extended the Bosco lead to 46-35 and finally looked as if they would put the game away, before a TJ Chaney 3-pointer brought it back to eight points for Gill. Gill lost top player Paul Mulcahy with his 5th foul in the 4th quarter with 3:57 left, he had 13 points at the time. He was the second Gill player to foul out in the half up until that point and two more would follow.

Don Bosco’s Chris Paul fouled out with 2:39 to go in the game, he finished nine points, five coming in the second half. Gill however got a 3-pointer with 1:15 left in the game by Will Yarborough which gave Gill a 53-51 lead, their first in a while to that point. Yarborough would foul out a few seconds later with 1:07 remaining, the teams 3rd disqualification. A Bosco bucket would tie it and give the ball back to Gill with a chance to win it in regulation, but they came up empty.

In overtime, with the teams’ best players fouled out of the game, Ronald Harper, son of former NBA great Ron Harper, converted a three point play with 2:32 left for a 58-55 lead for Bosco. After TJ Chaney became the 4th Gill casualty with 2:13 remaining, Charlie Begin gave Bosco a 60-56 lead with two free throws. Bosco held Gill to three points in the overtime, out scoring them 11-3 for a 64-56 win.

Ronald Harper finished with 16 points for Don Bosco Prep and and Alex Schance led Gill St. Bernard’s with 18.