For Catholic Memorial, the conditions inside Ronald S. Perry Gymnasium were perfect.
On Friday night, behind 20 points from Jarron Flynn, the Knights defeated visiting Brockton, 96-85, on a hot night inside Catholic Memorial High School. Catholic Memorial had five players finish in double figures, while Will McDonnell corralled 12 rebounds, dished out five assists, and picked up six steals.
“It gets hot in here and we are used to it,” said Catholic Memorial head coach Denis Tobin. “We wanted to continue to run throughout and see if they could do it for 32 minutes like we are used to doing it.”
As the contest went along, the temperatures inside the gym began to rise allowing the Knights to use their full court pressure to wear down the Boxers. In total Catholic Memorial forced 22 Brockton turnovers leading to 30 points.
The Knights held a 55-46 lead the break, but quickly pulled away. Flynn drove to the basket for two, and off a Boxers turnover Kurtis Henderson (19 points) hit a pair at the charity stripe.
Jarice Harris pulled Brockton back within 12 with a jumper, but McDonnell answered right back by splashing a three-pointer. McDonnell then came up with a steal, and threw it up ahead to Jarrett Martin who laid it in to give the Knights a 65-48 lead.
Catholic Memorial’s lead got up to as many as 23 early in the fourth quarter, 85-62, on a three-pointer by Anthony Morales, but a 14-2 run highlighted by six points from Segun Okunlola pulled the Boxers within 11.
The Knights, however, were relentless as Henderson went coast-to-coast through contact for a three-point play and Flynn broke the Boxers pressure and finished at the rim to give Catholic Memorial a 13-point lead with a minute left.
“We started the third quarter very well,” said Tobin. “That was very important because we knew they were going to make a run but luckily we had enough of a lead so that when they did we could withstand it.”
Catholic Memorial came out and asserted itself in the early going using its up tempo style to force 12 Brockton turnovers leading to a 30-19 lead after one. A Kani Glover (19 points) step back early in the second quarter kept the Knights lead at 11, 41-30, but the Boxers found their footing.
Over the next two minutes, Brockton went on a 10-1 run, capped off by a Nayvan Reid three-point play to pull within 42-40. The Knights had an answer to finish the quarter as a Jack Carey trey finished off a 13-4 spurt that put CM up 55-46 at the half.