Joey Montalvo’s late basket lifts No. 5 East Catholic to stunning win over No. 2 Windsor
WINDSOR – It’s what we’ve come to expect from the best men’s basketball rivalry the CCC has seen in the last decade.
A superb Windsor comeback in the third quarter tied the game with one quarter to play. The lead changed hands six times in the final quarter. The last time that happened was on a shot by East Catholic’s Joey Montalvo.
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Mahki Henderson contributed to Montalvo’s game-winning layup with eight seconds remaining as East Catholic, No. 5 in the GametimeCT Top 10 poll, stunned No. 2 and had unbeaten Windsor 75-74 in front of a sold-out crowd Friday at Windsor High.
The host Warriors missed a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
“It’s a big deal. We knew it was going to come down to this,” said Montalvo, a senior. “Great result, I’m glad we won on the road.”
East Catholic coach Luke Reilly called the win “a big step forward for us today” in a “state tournament type week.”
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The Eagles (15-3) lost at home Monday to East Hartford, then trailed Bishop Hendricken (RI) by double digits on the road Wednesday. They came back to win this game in overtime on Bishop Hendricken’s senior night.
Then East Catholic did the same thing at Windsor’s graduation party.
“We knew the stakes were high because three teams could beat us,” Reilly said. “This team is tough. This team knows how to compete.”
East Catholic took a 16-point lead late in the second quarter and led by 13 at halftime (41-28).
Windsor (16-1) scored 30 points in the third quarter to tie the score at 58.
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Alex Weaver (22 points) gave Windsor a 71-70 lead with 1:45 left, but the sophomore point guard fouled out 12 seconds later. Yet Windsor held on. And after Montalvo missed a 3-pointer leading 74-73, the Warriors had a chance to put the game away at the free throw line.
But Clinton Toomer and Charlie Lewis each missed two free throws. A tie after the final miss gave East Catholic possession with 17.9 seconds remaining.
The Eagles’ Sincere Folk (18 points, 11 assists), who hit the basket to bring East Catholic within 1, drew three defenders. He passed to Henderson, who found Montalvo.
“Coach just wanted us to go right away to give us a chance to rebound offensively,” Folk said. “I tried to pass half the field as quickly as possible and then threw it to (Henderson).
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Montalvo faked a play near the basket and two Windsor defenders flew past him. He then went all out for the winner.
“I missed the Big 3 before. I’m glad I got it back,” Montalvo said. “Pretend pump, we practice every day. I’m glad I did it.”
Folk said, “Coach preaches eyebrows, which is a fake pump. So Joey did a fake, put two guys in the air and finished the bucket to give us the win.”
Windsor coach Ken Smith knew where the game was lost.
“If we learned how to make free throws, we wouldn’t be in this position,” Smith said. “Very disappointing, especially because it’s the first thing we practice every day.”
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Jamaul Padilla finished with a game-high 31 points for East Catholic. His superb play in the first half was the main reason the Eagles were able to take such a big lead.
Windsor enjoys a quick turnaround when it takes on Burke (Mass.) at Springfield Central on Saturday afternoon.
Game player
Joey Montalvo, Eastern Catholic: Made the game-clinching layup with eight seconds left that gave East Catholic the 75-74 victory.
Quotable
“Everyone is going to give us their best game, and today was their best game. But we still could have won if we made our free throws.”
– Windsor coach Ken Smith.
This article originally published on Joey Montalvo’s late basket lifts No. 5 East Catholic to blowout win over No. 2 Windsor.
