NORTH ANDOVER — Championship teams have many different “coats of armor” availble to them to bring into battle on the court … metaphorically speaking, of course. Basically, it’s an expression used to describe just how complete a team is, and all of the “basketball goodness” learned together during a season that they have at their disposal to beat you.
Can you win with defense?
Can you create at the rim, make perimeter shots and outscore teams?
Can you dominate the paint and control the boards?
Are you made up of experienced athletes?
Can you handle adversity?
So far this season, the Georgetown boys have consistently showed us that the answer to those questions — and many more — is a resounding “yes.” And on Monday night, the No. 3 Royals showed all of that “goodness” while answering even more questions during a 56-28 blowout victory over No. 14 Sutton in the Division 4 Round of 16. It was a full-on showcase of the championship mettle that the Royals have accumulated over the last two years.
And now, they’re just three wins away from defending their Division 4 title.
“It feels crazy to be this close again,” said junior forward Jomar Terrero. “I want it even more badly than last year, and I know that everybody on the team feels the same way.”
Check out these new questions that Georgetown (17-5) answered.
Can you win when your emotional senior leader in Brendan Loewen, a two-time Daily News All-Star and the recently-crowned CAL Baker MVP, scores only two points and plays reduced minutes with foul trouble? Can you survive when your fellow senior captain in Irvin Zapata — a Daily News All-Star and the program’s single season 3-point record holder — eventually hits three triples but is mostly cold from beyond the arc all night on top of that?
Welp, those answers are now “yes,” too.
Which is especially impressive when it comes to Loewen, who entered the Sweet 16 averaging 15.4 ppg. Everyone who has seen a Georgetown game over the last three years knows how important he is to the program, and how much the team relies on him. There’s been only one other instance this year where Loewen scored less than six points, and it was Georgetown’s worse loss of the season, 72-54 to Attleboro.
But Monday night, the Royals overcame it all.
… And, again, that just says so much about how many “coats of armor” this team has.
“We trust him and he trusts us,” said Terrero on Loewen. “He’s our main guy, and if he’s not going, we have to go.”
It took a quarter, but Terrero and the Royals eventually locked in.
Playing its “home” game at North Andover High because its gym is too small to host at this point of the playoffs, Georgetown couldn’t hit anything in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Sutton got a hot start from junior Chase Gara (15 pts) and senior Kevin Morin (5 pts), who helped their team open up a 17-9 lead after the first quarter. The Sammies (15-7) were running crisp offense with backdoor cuts to get easy layups, while on the other end, the Royals weren’t hitting against their zone defense.
But for the last 24 minutes of the game, it was pure carnage.
And for all of you math wizards out there who may have already figured it out.
…
Georgetown held Sutton to just 11 total points over the last three quarters!
“(Sutton) has good players and they run good offense,” said Georgetown assistant coach Ted Schruender, who has taken over the team during its playoff run. “I think it just took us a minute to get used to it. We knew they were going to set really good screens away from the ball and cuts away from the ball, that’s what they did all season. And I think just seeing them do it live, it took us five mintues to get used to it. But then when we locked in … that’s just who we are.
“We’ve had a defensive identity the whole season.”
With a renewed intensity on the defensive end, Georgetown took over.
And that spark was fueled by Terrero, the team’s third and final returning Daily News All-Star from a year ago who came into the game averaging 12.5 ppg. The junior converted two layups through traffic, then had a steal that led to an and-1 to make it a one-point game at 17-16 in a blink. Zapata then hit two straight 3s after going 0-for-4 in the first quarter, and Terrero would score 15 of his game-high 19 points in the first half to help the Royals build a 28-21 lead at the break.
Sutton scored just four points in the second quarter.
“It’s like we were evaluating ourselves (in the first quarter),” said Terrero. “We really sought out who and what affected our game, we knew who to stop, and we took advantage of that. Once we stopped that dude, No. 22 (Gara), everything just started to fall into place for us.”
And the Royals quickly put the game away coming out of the locker room.
Mainly thanks to electric sophomore Mezi Rodriguez, who came up with a handful of steals and scored 11 of his 16 total points — on three 3s — during the frame. A dynamite athlete, Rodriguez showed his complete game on Monday night, and helped the Royals bring a 48-23 lead into the fourth.
Sutton scored just two points in the third quarter.
“We just know the talent and the will Mezi has to play,” said Schruender. “And he’s just coming into his own. He’s had games like this in the past, and it’s just not surprising to see him the way that he was tonight.”
Despite not having his best night shooting the ball, Zapata still finished with 11 points. Then junior point guard Rayner Hernandez also needs to be commended even though he didn’t score, playing every single meaningful minute while setting up the offense and playing elite defense. Aleks Dimov (4 pts) gave the Royals good minutes, and the end of the bench got extended playing time to finish up the game.
Sutton scored just five points in the fourth quarter.
But now, Georgetown is back in the Division 4 quarterfinals, where it’ll “host” either No. 6 Blue Hills or No. 11 Ipswich (who play Tuesday night). Regardless, that Elite 8 matchup will likely by back at North Andover High, with early signs pointing to it being on Thursday.
Georgetown 56, Sutton 28
Division 4 Round of 16
Sutton (28): Kyle Kolofsky 1-0-2, Gus Jaconson 1-1-3, Kevin Morin 2-1-5, Brennan Benedict 1-0-2, Chase Gara 5-2-15, Max Kinne 0-1-1, Chase Fournier 0-0-0, Shaya Birnkrant 0-0-0, Tristan Dumas 0-0-0, Bransen Valerio 0-0-0. Totals 10-5-28
Georgetown (56): Jomar Terrero 8-3-19, Irvin Zapata 4-0-11, Meziah Rodriguez 5-2-16, Rayner Hernandez 0-0-0, Brendan Loewen 1-0-2, Aleks Dimov 2-0-4, Tony Tavares Roman 1-0-2, Eliseo Vasquez 0-0-0, Zack Scenna 0-0-0, Nathan Anderton 0-0-0, Jacob Dunlevy 0-0-0, Gio Concalves 1-0-2. Totals 22-5-56
3-pointers: G — Rodriguez 4, Zapata 3; S — Gara 3
Sutton (15-7): 17 4 2 5 — 28
Georgetown (17-5): 9 19 20 8 — 56