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DiPanfilo's treys bring Fenwick back, over Cougars

Thursday, January, 03 By Matt Williams
Staff writer

The ice water flowing through Nolan DiPanfilo's veins last night was as cold as the temperatures in the teens outside the Bishop Fenwick gymnasium last night.

The 5-foot-9 Fenwick guard knocked down five 3-pointers | each one bigger than the last | to lead his team to a 52-49 come-from-behind win over Austin Prep.

"He's been hitting big shots for us all year," said Fenwick coach Sean Connolly.

The Crusaders won for the third straight game to move to 3-2 while handing the Cougars (3-1) their first loss of the season.

The teams entered the fourth quarter deadlocked at 37-37 before Austin Prep's Dan Higgins drilled a trey to put hhis club on top momentarily. DiPanfilo looked to answer at the other end, but was fouled and knocked down all three free throws to knot the score once more. The next possession offered more of the same with Higgins hitting a runner to make it 42-40.

It was the last advantage the Cougars would enjoy as DiPanfilo buried a trey at the other end to up the Crusaders on top for good, 43-42.

In all, DiPanfilo finished with 19 points while Mike Clifford added 14. Clifford, the 6-foot-8 center, was dominant but played short minutes after picking up two fouls early in the first quarter and a third near the end of the half. That, combined with some hot shooting, helped Austin Prep jump out to leads of 7-2 and 13-7 in the first.

"The first couple of minutes we didn't have any intensity," said Connolly. "They had a lot more energy than us."

Thanks in part to a buzzer-beating trey from DiPanfilo that made it 15-13 after one, the Crusaders battled back. Four straight from Clifford tied the game 17-17 and minutes later yet another DiPanfilo three delivered Fenwick it's first lead of the ball game, 22-21, with under a minute to play in the second quarter.

It was a lead they extended in the third quarter before a 9-2 Cougar run shifted momentum again. The teams traded leads until DiPanfilo and Clifford took over in the final minutes.

"In the first half we had some open shots that we just missed," said Connolly. "We made more shots in the second half."

Another key for the Crusaders was junior forward Phil Eagan, who grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds. The 6-2 forward was outsized by the Austin Prep front line but was tenacious on the boards and off-set had been a strength for the Cougars in the early going. He also scored nine points, including a crucial put-back with around 2:00 to play.

"That was Phil's best game of the year," Connolly said. "He was all over the boards."

Beau Batchelor led the Cougars with 13 points while Higgins finished with 12 and Matt Bovier chipped in nine to go with seven rebounds. But the Fenwick defense tightened as the game went on, conceding just six points in the second quarter and nary an open look throughout.

"We played good defense | we just struggled a little with the shots (offensively)," said Connolly.

With the victory, the Crusaders move over .500 for the first time this season after an 0-2 start. They'll look to extend their winning streak to four games next Tuesday with a visit to North Cambridge Catholic.