WCAC Boys Quarterfinals: McNamara 65, Good Counsel 58 OT

It seemed that Good Counsel had an answer for every advance Bishop McNamara had in Saturday’s WCAC boys basketball quarterfinals.

That is, except for a monstrous Brandon Coleman dunk. Coleman threw down a two-handed slam in overtime to lift fourth-seeded McNamara to a 65-58 win over Good Counsel, sending the Mustangs into Sunday’s semifinal against DeMatha.

“Like I’ve said all year, the dunk is to get momentum on our team,” said Coleman, who finished with nine points. “We had the momentum going into overtime and that just sealed the deal. I felt like that was the ****** blow.”

Fifth-seeded Good Counsel (18-11) took an early lead in the first quarter and had Bishop McNamara (21-8) chasing from then on.

The Mustangs pulled even by the end of the first quarter, but Good counsel continued to hit big shots to maintain the lead. Julius Francis became a big force inside for the Falcons and finished with 12 points. Louis Young also got hot, scoring nine points in the third quarter alone and 13 overall to lead the Falcons.

The Falcons built and eight-point lead at one point before McNamara came out strong in the fourth quarter. Usual leaders Rashad Whack (16 points) and Talib Zanna (14 points) found the net for big buckets and the Mustangs helped themselves by going 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the quarter.

Good Counsel, meanwhile, missed four straight free throws in the final minute, including with the game tied and 11.2 seconds remaining. McNamara had the ball for the final possession in regulation. Ryan Washington tripped and a jump ball was called, giving possession to the Falcons.

“We knew we had to get it done, we knew we had to strap up and forget about the first half,” Coleman said. “We had the crowd on our side. We knew we fought hard to be here and this is our time.”

Whack opened overtime with a jumper and Coleman followed with his dunk after the Mustangs ran 1:15 off the clock. Washington found Coleman wide open on the baseline after the guard draw the defense to himself.

Good Counsel got a pair of free throws following, but Zanna dealt a heavy blow by rebounding a missed free throw and putting it back in for a four-point lead.

From there, McNamara hit its final six free throws to seal the game while the Falcons managed just one field goal in overtime.

“Our guys really hung tough mentally and physically down the stretch,” McNamara coach Marty Keithline said. “The game up there was a battle, the game at our place was a battle so everyone knew it was going to be a battle today.”