By Aaron Perryman/Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
An emotional Ben D’Alessandro had to gather himself before explaining what his team meant to him following Covenant’s 59-55 home loss to Roanoke Catholic in the Division 2 state quarterfinals Wednesday night.
“[The locker room] was emotional,” coach D’Alessandro said. “One reason it’s emotional is it really isn’t about winning or losing the game. For this team, and for this program, it’s not about winning and losing. It’s about the fact that this is a team and the journey we’ve been on has kind of had a bump in the road. [But] it’s not over.”
Roanoke senior Stefan Vulevic, a European exchange student, finished with only eight points, but sunk four of his five free throws in the final 1:14 to finish off the Eagles.
The Eagles (17-6) led the Celtics (16-9) 31-28 at the break — getting 13 points from senior guard Sam Dale in the half — but fell behind for the first time with two minutes left in the third quarter when Roanoke took a 44-42 lead.
“I think it’s just the thought of, ‘Maybe my high school career could be over with tonight,” said Celtics coach Joe Gaither of his team’s resiliency. “It’s a sense of urgency that you don’t wanna go home — you don’t want your high school career to end. You got to reach down inside and grab something that you haven’t grabbed before.”
The action was fierce from that point on with the Celtics never pulling ahead by more than five points. Covenant cut the margin to one but never could tie or regain the lead.
“Roanoke killed us on the boards,” D’Alessandro said. “We contained them, [but] I don’t think we got one, maybe two second chance opportunities. …We had the ball down two and got a great shot but you gotta give credit to Roanoke Catholic. They made the plays they needed to make.”
A major reason for the Celtics surging ahead in the second half was an improved inside game. Senior forward Archie Hicklin finished with 23 points, 14 of them coming in the second half. No other Celtic reached double figures.
“[Hicklin] elevated his game tonight,” Gaither said, noting his team focused on getting the ball in the paint more in the second half. “He’s a kid that plays hard every night and he had to bring it to another level tonight and we are glad he did.”
The Celtics lost at Covenant earlier in the year and felt fortunate to win this time.
“I don’t think we brought the same intensity then that we did tonight,” Gaither said. “Our backs were kind of against the wall and they are very good team and shoot the ball so well. We were just really blessed that it bounced our way tonight and it could go either way with quality teams. It’s a dog fight anytime you play these guys.”
Dale finished with 23 points and junior guard Isaac Stewart-Silver added 18 for the Eagles.
“Oh my goodness,” Gaither said of the challenge of defending Dale. “You just hope he misses a few — hope he gets a little fatigued. He’s a tremendous offensive talent. [He] can put it on the floor and shoot the three.”
To Gaither, the basketball talent of Dale was evident, but that was only the tip of the iceberg for D’Alessandro.
“Sam is a once in a lifetime player,” he said. “I’ve never coached another young man like Sam Dale. He has come farther in three years in this program than any kid I could ever imagine—with his academics, the kind and respectful young man that he is, how much he loves and respects his teammates, and he’s a great talent…He’s been blessed with that and worked to maximize that, that’s what I’m really most proud of.”
D’Alessandro spoke highly of his other two seniors as well, Treven Meyers and Nathan Hyde, noting that his three seniors have helped the program come a long way in three years.
“Nathan and Treven — they helped lay the foundation of this program,” he said. “Such solid young men, I’m so proud of them. These guys are like sons to me and they’re always gonna be a part of this program… I’ll be able to measure this season based on where these guys are in 5-10 years — not based on our record.”
D’Alessandro added that his players could hold their head high, because they gave it all they had despite the loss.
“This is a team in every sense of the word,” D’Alessandro said. “These guys love each other. As coaches we love them. For them, it’s just about the relationships. That’s why I’m so emotional…They put it all on the floor and played with all their heart and all their soul….We’ve built something special here at Covenant, something these young men should be proud of.”
