Notre Dame's Kolby McGowan squeezes past Red Bank's Darius Shelby (13) and Xay Doss for a layup during Thursday's high school basketball game at Red Bank High School. McGowan scored 17 points in the Irish's 58-47 win.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Notre Dame and Red Bank both went into Thursday night’s non-district basketball game in need of a victory.
The Irish had lost eight straight.
The Lions came in saddled with a five-game skid.
When the contest ended Notre Dame walked out of Susan Thurman Gymnasium with a one-game winning streak.
Kolby McGowan scored six of Notre Dame’s first 12 points to fuel a strong 22-point third quarter as the Irish (3-12) knocked off the Lions 58-47.
“I think I played pretty good tonight,” McGowan said. “I was feeding off my teammates. We really needed this and it should be a real confidence booster for us.”
It was Notre Dame’s first win since Dec. 3 when it defeated Hixson 64-61 at Girls Preparatory School in the Hoops for Hope cancer charity event.
“That was our only win in December,” Irish coach J.P. Nerbun said.
Red Bank’s last win was a 53-43 victory over Grundy County in the Red Raider Invitational in Manchester.
McGowan led the Irish with 17 points with 13 coming in the second half. C.J. Greer scored 15 and Akil Sledge added 12. Greer put up 11 points after halftime and that surge was powered by 7-for-8 shooting from the foul line.
The Irish were 16 of 23 from the charity stripe while Red Bank made just 7 of 22.
The Lions (3-11), their losing streak extended to six in a row, got 14 points each from Tory Sewell and Will Thomas, who dropped in four 3-pointers.
In the earlier girls’ game, Red Bank got 13 points by Shelby Romans and beat the Lady Irish 56-46. Kate Ford scored 13 points for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame began the second period with an 8-0 run to open a 20-11 advantage, but the Lions countered with 10 straight points for a one-point lead. McGowan drove the lane for a layup and Sewell drained a 3 from the left wing to give Red Bank a 24-22 halftime margin.
When McGowan capped his offensive spree early in the third period – he was 6 for 6 from the charity stripe Notre Dame had blown into a 34-24 lead.
“Credit Notre Dame,” Fike said. “They wanted this game more than we did and they hit their free throws; we didn’t. Free throws are momentum. They’re gimmes and our guys have to step up and knock them down.”
Calvin Jackson dropped in a free throw and added a fastbreak layup as the Lions cut their deficit to seven points. Derwin Lewis and Sledge each tossed in driving layups and Red Bank’s Luke Brown hit two free throws.
C.J. Greer countered with a field goal and a pair of free throws to give the Irish a 42-29 lead, their biggest of the game with 2:24 left in the third period.
The Irish didn’t score again until McGowan, a junior, hit a bucket with 4.2 seconds on the clock and they went to the final quarter nursing a 44-32 lead.
“I think Kolby is finding his groove,” Nerbun said. “He told me at the half that he didn’t think he hadn’t been playing at the level he wanted, but his maturity came through and it was one of his best games.”
McGowan was ineffective from 3-point distance, but wise enough to change his strategy. It wasn’t just McGowan. Notre Dame failed to make a single 3.
“My 3-shot wasn’t falling,” he said, “so I started going to the basket. Sometimes you’ve just got to adjust your game.”
Despite trailing by 12 points after 24 minutes of play the Lions refused to go away.
Thomas opened the fourth period with his third 3 of the game; Calvin Jackson rebounded his own miss and scored on a put-back; Darius Shelby made two free throws and Thomas drilled another 3, again from the right wing and the rallying Lions pulled to within 44-42 with 3:45 left.
“We were on a run and I was wondering if we could sustain it,” Fike said. “Believe me I know we needed a win. We just had to beat them.”
Greer, who was 5 for 6 at the stripe in the final period, missed a freebie, but then drained three straight – Jackson’s fifth foul sent Greer to the line a second time in 12 seconds – and the Irish stretched its shaky lead to 47-42.
Sewell got a nice assist from Thomas and the Lions were down by three at the 2:53 mark.
The Irish outscored the Lions 11-3 over the final 2 minutes and 32 seconds to nail down the victory. McGowan connected on four straight free throws in the final 20.9 seconds.
“Their defensive pressure got to us down the stretch,” Fike said.
In the girls’ game, Red Bank trailed 10-8 after one quarter, but outscored the Lady Irish 32-19 and grabbed a commanding 45-29 lead heading into the final period.
Layla Babb and Haley Claiborne each scored 11 points for Red Bank. Claiborne made three of the Lady Lions’ six 3-pointers.
LINESCORES
Boys Game
Notre Dame 14 8 22 15 – 58
Red Bank 11 13 8 15 -- 47
Notre Dame (58) – Suarez 4, Berce, C.J. Greer 15, Akil Sledge 12, Bears, Corbitt 2, Nelson 2, Lewis 6, Kolby McGowan 17.
Red Bank (47) – Delaney, Doss 7, Holland 1, Tory Sewell 14, Henderson, Jackson 7, Shelby 2, Will Thomas 14, Davis, Brown 2, Jones.
3-Point Goals – Notre Dame none, Red Bank 8 (Thomas 4, Doss 2, Sewell 2).
Girls Game
Notre Dame 10 8 11 17 – 46
Red Bank 8 19 13 16 – 56
Notre Dame (46) – Sheppard 5, Brown, Raabe, Kate Ford 13, Sims 6, Rabuano 8, Bombassi 8, Siler 3, Johnson 3, Bird.
Red Bank (56) – Roberts 8, Layla Babb 11, Shelby Romans 13, Brown 1, Haley Claiborne 11, Evers 5, Pratt 2, Kennebrew 5, Bowens, Ndiaye, Stewart.
3-Point Goals – Notre Dame 5 (Rabuano 2, Shepard 1, Ford 1, Siler 1), Red Bank 6 (Claiborne 3, Roberts 1, Babb 1, Romans 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter r@larryfleming44)
Will Thomas of Red Bank goes up for a rebound as Notre Dame's Akil Sledge (3) and C.J. Greer try to defend against the leaping Lions player. Thomas finished with 14 points but Red Bank lost the game 58-47.
photo by DennisNorwood