WOBURN — If you’ve ever seen two boxers go toe-to-toe for 12 rounds, trading punches, bobbing, weaving, punching their way out of corners, that was KIPP Academy and Lowell Catholic Wednesday night in the Division 4 North semifinal at Woburn High’s Carl J. Torrice Gymnasium.
Both teams fought hard. Both fell behind and climbed back — KIPP rallying from a 12-point third-quarter deficit. But the decision went to the Panthers, who just barely eked past the Crusaders, 68-66.
No. 2 KIPP, 17-5, faces ninth-seeded Pope John (15-8) Friday night (8) at Tewksbury High in the sectional final.
“Back and forth, up and down,” said KIPP coach David White. “It was a battle between the No. 2 and 3 seeds, and you know it was going to be a tough game.”
The game was played — at least for a half — as if both teams would end up in the 80s. It was 40-40 at the break, and it wasn’t a case of poor defense, but in the number of 3-point shots both teams hit — each team hitting five. But the long-range missiles were fewer between in the final two quarters, something White attributed to good old-fashioned fatigue.
“We’ve played a lot of basketball,” he said, “something like 23 games. And it was such a fast game that I’m sure fatigue had something to do with that.”
Winfred Sanchez led the Panthers with 20 points, three of them from beyond the arc. But it was Pius Roberts, with seven points, who was the hero of the game. Roberts, with KIPP behind 64-62 with 1:20 to go, calmly hit two free throws to tie it up, and then, moments later, swished two more with 42 seconds left to put KIPP up by two, 66-64.
Sanchez and Wallace Reed (14 points) each hit one of two from the line and with 10 seconds left, KIPP led by four (68-64).
But Lowell Catholic sprinted down court to score, and time seemingly ran out. But the referees ruled the Crusaders called a timeout before the buzzer, and put 1.5 seconds on the clock. That was enough time for KIPP to inbound the ball successfully and time expired.
Both KIPP and Lowell Catholic had to climb back from deficits during the first half, but it was the Panthers who had the steepest hill to climb, trailing by 12 (55-43) midway through the third quarter. But a 9-2 closing flurry cut the Crusaders’ lead to five going into the last period.
“We preach mental toughness,” said White. “We knew there was plenty of time. We didn’t panic. There was a whole quarter-and-a-half to play.
“I’m proud of the way our kids hung tough and fought back,” he said.
KIPP ran off seven straight points to start the fourth quarter, punctuated by Algha Barry’s 3-pointer (both he and his brother, Abdoul, contributed mightily with nine points each).
After KIPP’s splurge, the Panthers led by two (59-57) and but the Crusaders weren’t done. An 8-3 spurt boosted them back into the lead at 64-62 before the frenetic final minute and a half.
For Lowell Catholic, Isaiah Taylor led all scorers with 21 points, with Jacob McKenzie dropping in 17, Alex LeFerreire hitting 11 (all in the first half) and Caleb Scott scored eight.