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Sports

St. Joseph Routs Fairfield Prep In Class LL Title Game

Cadets defeat Jesuits 79-53 to win 10th state championship in school history

After waiting a decade to get back to the state finals, the boys basketball team needed only three minutes to deliver a knockout punch.

Putting on an offensive clinic in the first half, St. Joseph opened a 14-point lead before the first quarter was half over and rolled to a 79-53 victory over Fairfield Prep in the CIAC Class LL championship game Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

It was like old times for 78-year-old Cadets Coach Vito Montelli, who won his 10th state championship, breaking a tie with Harding's Charlie Bentley and former Wilbur Cross' mentor Bob Saulsbury for the most in Connecticut history.

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"It's a great feeling," said Montelli, who finished his 49th season as the Cadets' coach. "This is a terrific group of kids, easy to work with. I had great assistants. I can't ask for anything else."

"I'm really happy for Vito," said Leo Redgate, who guided Fairfield Prep to the state finals for the first time since 1997 in his first year as the Jesuits' coach. "We got a little taste, which we haven't had in awhile."

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With 5:08 left in the third, Fairfield Prep's leading scorer Terry Tarpey was accidentally tripped by St Joseph's Jake Fulton and lay on the floor holding his knee while writhing in pain.

He was helped off the court and spent the rest of the game on the bench. Redgate said Tarpey would not have returned even if the score was closer.

St. Joseph shot 58 percent (21-of-36) from the field in the first half to open a 48-28 lead -- and that's after the Jesuits ended the half with a 7-0 run. The Cadets also succeeded in quieting Fairfield Prep's loud student cheering section.

The Cadets (23-2) overpowered Fairfield Prep early, scoring at will in transition. St. Joseph hit eight of its first 10 shots, building a 16-2 lead on Timajh Parker's driving layup with five minutes left in the first period. It was 27-9 after the first quarter.

Winning its first championship since 2001, St. Joseph become the fourth school in Connecticut with double-figure titles, joining an elite list that includes Hillhouse (21), Wilbur Cross (14) and Harding (12). The Cadets also became the first team in Connecticut to win titles in all four classes (S, M, L and LL).

"Double digits for (Montelli)," Fulton said. "He's in the record book again now for winning in every division. We hadn't won one in years. It's great to get ourselves back on the map again."

The lopsided win allowed the Cadets to split Saturday's unique championship doubleheader between the schools. Earlier in the day, Fairfield Prep defeated St. Joseph 5-0 in the Division I hockey state championship game.

Just as the hockey contest seemed anti-climatic, so, too, did the basketball clash. The Jesuits (21-7) simply had no answers for the Cadets'potent transition game.

Oscar Assie paced a balanced attack for St.Joseph with 17 points while Parker added 15, Brandon Jones 13 and Fulton 10.

"We've been really hard ever since my freshman year," Assie said. "When you fall short so many times, you feel the pain, knowing you had a chance to win a state championship. You feel like you disappointed your coach, so it feels great to win this for coach Montelli."

Parker also grabbed 11 rebounds, helping the Cadets dominate the boards by a 46-28 margin, while James Jennings handed out seven assists. 

"We came out firing," Fulton added. "We knew that we had to get them out of the game quick because of their student section. We didn't want to let them get in the game."

It got no better in the second half for Fairfield Prep as St. Joseph pushed its lead to 63-32 - its largest of the night - on Assie's layup with four minutes left in the third quarter.

"If you're not making shots, it's easy for the other team to be in transition," Redgate said. "The bottom line is, we didn't hit the broad side of a barn. We went cold for pretty much the entire game. We hadn't done that for the entire postseason."

Robbie Bier led Fairfield with 11 points, shooting 3-of-13 from the field. Tarpey added 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting.

While St. Joseph finished at just under 50 percent (31-of-61), Fairfield Prep shot only 34 percent (17-of-50), which actually was an improvement from their dismal 2-of-13 effort in the first period.

"We just ran into a team that was better than us," Redgate said. "But if we were going to lose to anyone, I'm glad we lost to the best - and in the finals."

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