(6) Brother Martin 49, (11) Rummel 26

at Conlin Gymnasium, Tuesday (Feb. 26), Division I second-round playoff game

HOW THE GAME WAS WON: 4 KEY MOMENTS

• The Crusaders took control by opening the third quarter on a 9-2 run to turn a nine-point halftime advantage into a commanding 38-16 lead after three quarters. Victor Tomlinson '19 scored 10 of his game-high 14 points in the quarter including seven straight points during the run as Rummel managed just four points in the period. The Raiders’ first points didn’t come until the two-minute mark on a layup by Garrett Schmidt.
• Rummel showed signs of life in the fourth quarter by cutting the Crusaders lead to 13 points, but Brother Martin’s Grant DeLord '21 made a leaping layup off a inbounds play to push the lead back to 15 points with just over four minutes to play. The play killed the Raiders momentum as the Crusaders controlled the rest of the game.
• The second quarter was a sloppy one, but the Crusaders pushed the lead to 10 points before Rummel’s Luke Lemonier hit a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding with three minutes left. The teams traded punches from there as Brother Martin held a 21-12 halftime advantage.
• The first quarter was a sluggish one until Brother Martin ended on a 8-0 run to take a 12-5 lead at the end of the period. The run started with about two minutes remaining on a hook shot in the lane by Dillon Delatte '19. Javier Perez '19, who had five first-quarter points, capped the run with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Victor Tomlinson, Brother Martin

The senior guard led the third quarter push that put the game away. He finished 2-for-4 from behind the arc, but it was his seven straight points in the third quarter that killed any hopes of a Raiders second-half comeback.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Rummel | 5 | 7 | 4 | 10 – 26

Brother Martin | 12 | 9 | 17 | 11 – 49

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

Rummel: Channing Holmes, 8; Kade Rivera, 5; Garrett Schmidt, 4; Jalen Sturgis, 4; Luke Lemonier, 4; Aaron Thomas, 2.

Brother Martin: Victor Tomlinson, 14; Dillon Delatte, 11; Javier Perez, 10; Grant DeLord, 7; Isaiah Torregano, 4; T.J. Small, 2; Shane Griffin, 1.

NOTABLE

• Both teams struggled from the free throw line. Brother Martin finished 12-of-21 while Rummel was 5-of-11.
• Rummel managed just 12 points in the first half with no players making more than a single basket from the field. The Raiders shot 27 percent in the first half and finished 27 percent from the field in the game converting on just 10 shots.
• Brother Martin dominated the glass outrebounding Rummel 42 to 26. DeLord had a game-high 10 rebounds while Delatte added nine.
• It took nearly three minutes for either team to score in the first quarter as Delatte’s basket with 5:02 left was the game’s first points after several near misses by both teams. The third quarter was much of the same as T.J. Smalls '20 basket with 5:04 left was the first points of the second half.
• The Crusaders won three straight to close the regular season after winning both District 9-5A games between the teams.

THEY SAID IT

Brother Martin senior Victor Tomlinson: “I think we played really good team ball. All week at practice, we've talked about beating the man in front of you. In the third quarter, we went out there and outrebounded them, outscored them and out-physicalled them. Defense really won us this game. We just outplayed the other team.”

Brother Martin senior Dillon Delatte: “We emphasize our defense, and we played well on defense tonight. We let our defense lead to our offense. On defense, we just stay on our feet and close out. We put our hands up. We had a scouting report for what they wanted to do, and we came out and stopped what they wanted to do. That was the difference.”

Brother Martin coach Chris Biehl: “In the third quarter, we just played great team basketball. We felt like we had a good idea of what they were going to do, and we did our best to make sure they didn't get the looks that they wanted. It was some of the best defense we played this year.”

NEXT UP: The Crusaders will travel to No. 3 Holy Cross (27-6) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Tigers had a bye in the opening round and swept the district series against Brother Martin.