Lloyd Amedee
March 7, 2007March 16
March 12, 2007
E.D. White Catholic had not led since the 6:18 mark of the first quarter in its semifinal game against defending state-runner up Wossman, last Thursday at the Lafayette Cajundome.
But with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter, a three-point play by Ben Martin put the Cardinals ahead 57-56.
Wossman’s Lazzare Robinson made the front end of two free throws to tie the game with seven seconds left, but a Wossman player fouled E.D. White’s Brian Fakier on the inbounds, putting him on the line with four seconds left.
Fakier sank the first free throw, but missed the second. Wossman’s (20-14) last-second shot from near midcourt was too long, and the Cardinals left Lafayette with their first State Championship game berth in school history.
The story of the game was an E.D. White (26-7) team that refused to go away despite trailing for the majority of the contest. Cardinals head coach Jonathan Keife said that is a trait he’s seen all year from his squad. “Tonight is pretty much indicative of this entire team, and what we’re about,” said Keife. “Never giving up, always focusing on the next play.”
And it would have been easy to give up at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals trailed 30-29 at halftime, but saw the deficit grow in the third quarter. By the 6:55 mark of the fourth quarter, the Rams built a 48-37 lead and appeared poised to punch a ticket for the State Championship game.
Instead, the Cardinals used a 9-0 run, keyed by Ben Martin’s eight points, to cut the deficit to 48-46, sparking the Cardinals’ late-game heroics.
For most of the night, it was Martin that kept the Cardinals in the game, scoring 32 of his team’s 58 points. Martin’s contributions came after picking two fouls in the first quarter, and then his fourth foul at the 7:06 mark of the fourth quarter.
“I was trusting him after with two fouls early in the first quarter,” said Keife. “We have to have him on the court for us to be successful. Ben is a smart basketball player. My assistant reminded me that he had four (fouls), but I was not pulling him out the game.”
Keife’s trust in Martin paid off big time. “That was tough for me,” said Martin of the foul trouble. “I get a lot of steals, and playing with four fouls was rough. I had two early on, and coach trusted me to keep me in the game.”
Making matters tougher was that the Cardinals had to play out of character, applying a full-court press and hoping to force turnovers late in the game. Again, it paid off, with E.D. White scoring 23 points off of turnovers. “I think in the last two or three minutes, we were able to get a couple of key turnovers, and converted,” said Keife. “You’d never think we’d be able to … press them. We executed our press, and got a couple of steals, forced a couple of turnovers.
“We did give up a couple of easy baskets, but we had to. We were down, and you have to gamble a lot. We were fortunate enough to come out with the victory.”
Keife added that the win would go down as one of the most special of his career. “You have a Wossman team who’s made it to the Top 28 more times than we made the playoffs,” he said. “For us to be down by nine points with four minutes to go, and just gutting out the victory … it’s one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of.”
The Cardinals will face Edna Karr (New Orleans) in the finals. The date and time are not yet determined.
