Fileti swears he didn’t hear Mitchell whisper to Sumpter to…
By Dylan Butler
With his team clinging to a two-point lead with 10.2 seconds left in the game, Holy Cross point guard Chris Fileti tip-toed his way over to Bishop Loughlin’s Timeke Mitchell and Curtis Sumpter.
Fileti swears he didn’t hear Mitchell whisper to Sumpter to “go long.”
Despite not being able to steal the play, the senior managed to tip away the inbound pass, stealing the ball and the game from the Lions as the Knights escaped with a thrilling 77-74 win in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan quarterfinals Sunday at St. Francis College.
Holy Cross advanced to the semifinals to face top-seeded Christ the King in a game scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. Xaverian was slated to take on Molloy at 4:15 p.m. in the other semifinal. The championship game is Friday at 7:30 p.m. at St. Francis College.
Fileti finished with 20 points, nine assists and that one key steal.
“He knows that the end of the game is the time to be aggressive,” said Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary. “If you are not aggressive, you tend to stand around and watch. Chris didn’t want to watch, he wanted to take over.”
And that is exactly what Fileti did in the final minute of the game.
Trailing 74-70, he nailed a three-pointer from the corner with 42 seconds left. The three-year starter followed that by drawing an offensive foul on Loughlin senior guard Ted Munford with 27 ticks left.
“That’s the first time I guarded him,” Fileti said. “I just wanted to keep the five count. I just moved my feet and got the call.”
On the ensuing possession, Adam Frederic converted a three-point play to put Holy Cross (18-7) ahead, 76-74.
Bishop Loughlin (16-9) inbounded the ball, but the game clock had started too early and the officials waved the play dead. The Lions set up the play again, a pass from Mitchell to Sumpter which was designed to go over the Cross defense.
“We wanted to send Curtis long and hopefully [Mitchell] would get the ball over the top,” said Loughlin coach Ted Gustus. “That was our first option.”
But Mitchell’s pass was low enough for the 5-foot-10 Fileti to get a piece of the ball just before it went into Sumpter’s hands.
“I thought I was open,” said Sumpter. “And then I saw him at the last second.”
Holy Cross trailed by as many as eight in the second half, but Fileti, along with fellow senior Joe Marino (21 points), helped keep the Knights close with blistering outside shooting. Holy Cross went 9-for-11 from three-point range.
“They are all shooters,” said Munford. “It just came down to the point in time that they came up with the big shots.”
But every big shot the Knights hit, the Lions came up with an answer. While Cross dominated the perimeter, Loughlin was able to get inside the paint as Munford (19 points), Mitchell (20 points) and Sumpter (16 points) slashed at will.
“We were confident we could score, but it was just so tough to stop them,” Gilvary said. “We were just spinning our wheels for a while there. But we were able to get a couple of stops, Chris drew the big charge on Munford and we were fortunate enough to draw a couple of turnovers.”
Loughlin went into the half with a six-point lead, courtesy of Munford’s three-point play on a leaner in the lane. On a Sumpter dunk, the Lions led 56-49 after three quarters.
“They’re a good team. They hit shots in key situations,” Moreno said. “We just had to stop them a couple of times to get the lead.”
Xaverian 51, McClancy 42. Elvis Damjanovich had 16 points and Kevin Bishop added 10 for No. 7 McClancy (10-15) which hung tough with the second-seeded Clippers. Lou Karis (13 points) nailed a pair of three-pointers in the final four minutes to put the game away.
Chris Taft and Shamar Green also scored 13 points apiece for Xaverian (19-6).
Cathedral Prep 70, Salesian 60. Vin LaPuma paced second-seeded Cathedral with 27 points, including six three-pointers in a Class C first-round playoff game at Sacred Heart in Yonkers. Chris O’Connor had 23 points and 17 boards for the Crusaders (20-5), which advanced to face No. 6 St. Agnes in the semifinals Saturday at 6:45 p.m. at Mount St. Michael.
Iona Prep 52, St. John’s Prep 45. Edwin Moore had 14 points and DeSean Burke added 13 for No. 13 St. John’s Prep (5-20) in a loss Saturday in the first-round of the CHSAA Class B playoffs. James Jancezek led the fourth-seeded Gaels (13-12) with 22 points.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
