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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

Juniors capture third title

Fourth-seeded Holy Cross Juniors held off a rally from sixth-seeded Touchdown 3s to capture its third straight Bookstore Basketball championship at the bookstore courts Sunday, 21-19.

Leading 20-19, the ball was in Holy Cross junior captain Zoe Bauer’s hands, and he went to a shot he said he throws up in practice all the time. With his back to the basket, he tossed up a wild hook shot that hit the backboard and banked in for the championship.

20140427-20140427, Allison D'Ambrosia, Bookstore Basketball, Day of Notre Dame, ND Day, Notre Dame Day, The Observer Chamionship
Allison D'Ambrosia | The Observer
“I knew I had to get it on the backboard,” Bauer said. “I do it all the time in practice and everyone kind of knew it was coming. I was pretty confident doing it.”

The winning basket was only Bauer’s second bucket of the game, but his teammate, junior Darrell McIntyre, said there was little doubt about what Bauer would do.

“That’s my teammate,” McIntyre said. “I’ve seen him do that a bunch of times, and that’s just the kind of guy he is.”

For his part, McIntyre scored nine points, including two late free throws that kept Holy Cross in front.

20140427-20140427, Allison D'Ambrosia, Bookstore Basketball, Day of Notre Dame, ND Day, Notre Dame Day, The Observer Chamionship-2
Allison D'Ambrosia | The Observer
Holy Cross led by three at halftime, as McIntyre and junior Tommy Waytula combined to scored 10 of the team’s 11 points to set the pace. The Touchdown 3s relied on a balanced scoring effort to grab an early lead and to hang around in the second half. Seniors Jeremy Riche and Chris Cali led the team with five points apiece, but each of the five players had at least two baskets apiece in a hard fought, well-played second half.

“It was getting a little heated toward the end,” Riche said. “Everyone was just playing basketball, trying to be competitive, and it turned out to be a good game.”

Each of Holy Cross’s five players accounted for one of the team’s first five buckets of the second half, and at 17-13, Holy Cross seemed in command.

However, Touchdown 3s junior captain Kevin Gates scored two consecutive put-backs and sophomore Garrett Dempsey hit a spinning floater to cut the lead down to one and even out the momentum.

Down the stretch, McIntyre and Bauer were just too much to overcome as Holy Cross continued to attack the basket. They earned tough lay-ins, got to the free-throw line and ultimately banked in the tournament winner.

“I’m just proud of the way we competed,” McIntyre said. “We were down early, but we stayed strong and together. We knew they were going to play tough defense, so we had to just keep attacking. We played great defense, got the rebounds we needed, and it was just a good team effort.”