AJ Holl steps up with Cam Vedovelli sidelined, No. 1 Pope Francis boys basketball defeats No. 4 Longmeadow in Western Mass. Class A semifinals
Holl #Holl
SPRINGFIELD — There aren’t many teams in Western Massachusetts that could beat No. 4 Longmeadow three times in one season.
There are even fewer teams that could do it while missing their best player.
No. 1 Pope Francis is one of those teams this winter.
The Cardinals, without star senior Cam Vedovelli due to injury, defeated Longmeadow at home in the Western Massachusetts Class A semifinals on Wednesday in overtime, 66-61.
AJ Holl scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Cardinals. Pat Flaherty chipped in 12 points. Tommy McMahon scored a game-high 22 points for Longmeadow.
Pope Francis will play No. 3 West Springfield in the title game.
All three of the Cardinals’ wins against Longmeadow this season have been by four points or less.
“We knew that Longmeadow is a great opponent and that we’d have our hands full,” Pope Francis coach Justin Dalessio said. “Losing Cam, who is a leader and a valuable player, is difficult, but we never hung our heads. We said next man up and let’s do what we can to get this win. The guys responded, but again, Longmeadow was awesome today, too.”
“Our coach always talks about next man up,” Holl added. “We stressed that. We had a fire lit under us today to step it up. I feel like we won the game with rebounding, which is all effort.”
TJ Reid paced the Cardinals’ offense in the first quarter, scoring eight of the team’s first 14 points.
Reid’s biggest stretch came late in the first quarter when he made a step-back 3-pointer on one possession, followed it up with an offensive rebound and put-back on the next possession. The second basket put Pope Francis ahead, 15-13, heading into the second quarter.
The Lancers seized control at the beginning of the second quarter by forcing turnovers and scoring in transition.
AJ Miles, Griffin Collins and McMahon flashed their finishing ability in the paint during the quarter, getting Longmeadow ahead by as much as seven during the period.
Holl made a layup following an offensive rebound at the end of the quarter to close the gap to 33-28, Longmeadow, heading into halftime.
The Lancers put in a smaller lineup in the second half and tried to control the tempo with half court offense, but the Cardinals’ guards played defense high up the court and forced turnovers that became easy points on the other end.
Pope Francis went on a 12-0 run during the quarter that was powered by defense, rebounding and outside shots from Pat Flaherty and Rich Roy, to give the Cardinals the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
A different player emerged every quarter and made plays for Pope Francis on Wednesday night.
In the first quarter it was Reid and his play-making, in the second it was freshman Sam Mayfield in the paint and in the second half it was Holl and his rebounding.
“We are lucky where we have depth this year,” Dalessio said. “We play a lot of different guys and it depends on who we are playing. (Longmeadow) went guard heavy in the second half, but Sam (Mayfield) was good at being big. … It’s all about next guy up. We know it sucks without Cam, but these guys were ready.”
With three minutes left in the fourth quarter and the game tied, both teams went into the bonus with fouls.
Ryan Vedovelli and Flaherty each made a pair of free throws down the stretch for the Cardinals, while McMahon made also made two for Longmeadow.
Following a made free throw from Flaherty, the Cardinals led, 53-50, with 10 seconds left.
“Free throws we practice a lot,” Dalessio said. “But in front of a packed gym with a team like Longmeadow, they were big. … We made them tonight down the stretch.”
But with three seconds to go in regulation and down by three with the ball, Longmeadow had a chance to send the game into overtime, and did.
McMahon got the ball, sprinted to the top of the key, let a deep 3-pointer fly and made it, sending the traveling Longmeadow fan section into a frenzy and pushing the game into an extra period with the score 53-53.
The Lancers had life, but the Cardinals, especially Holl, weren’t fazed.
Holl took over in the overtime period, scoring a team-high eight points in the frame all while diving on the floor for loose balls and picking up key rebounds.
“AJ has improved so much as a defensive player, rebounder and a leader,” Dalessio said. “He did a lot of great stuff for us.”
Despite Holl’s efforts, Longmeadow continued to hang around. With 30 seconds left Tommy O’Donnell made a 3-pointer in the corner to close the gap to a point.
Pope Francis’ Jackson Maurer made a free throw on the team’s next possession to go up by two, and then Ryan Vedovelli made arguably the play of the game, taking a charge in the paint with 12 seconds left to force a Lancer turnover.
“Ryan is beyond his years as far as knowledge,” Dalessio said about the sophomore. “We preach the little things and tonight was about deflections, charges and getting on the floor. Ryan was great at the end. For him to do that, it was a senior play. It was great.”
The Cardinals tried to take charges early in the game, but didn’t get in position quick enough to convert.
Ryan Vedovelli remembered a play Longmeadow ran earlier in the game that ended with the ball on the low block. In the final minute of overtime, he saw the play again.
That’s when he sprung into action.
“Earlier they ran the same play,” Vedovelli said. “One of my teammates tried to take a charge but wasn’t set in time. They ran the same play, so I took it.”
Vedovelli has earned a reputation this season for reading offenses, knowing when to step up and take a charge.
“Ryan leads our team in charges,” Holl said. “That’s what he does. He knows how to find the right position, took a good charge and I think that won us the game.”
In the game’s final seconds, Pope Francis had a three point lead and Ryan Vedovelli was at the line, needing to only make one free throw to ice the game.
The sophomore made both.
While the final horn sounded, Ryan’s brother, Cam, wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants on the Cardinals’ sideline, limped over to his brother, hugged him and congratulated him on a big win.
“Cam has been talking about going to the Western Mass. finals and knew this was the year,” Ryan Vedovelli said. “When he got hurt he was really sad. It was nice to hit (the final free throws) for my brother and win it.”
Just three years ago, Pope Francis finished its 2019 season with two total wins.
Now the program is on the cusp of a sectional title.
“It feels like everyone has gotten better and we play nicely as a group,” Holl said. “That chemistry has evolved with our skills. It showed tonight. We did well in every aspect that we needed to win and we got the result we wanted.”
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