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First regional title for St. Edward since 2009

If it's tough to beat a team twice in a season, imagine what St. Edward's boys basketball team faced in trying to knock of IC Catholic Prep for a fourth time in a showdown that meant more than the previous three games combined.

The Green Wave did it again, pulling out a 41-40 victory in Friday's Class 2A Lisle regional title game.

St. Edward (24-5), a regional champion for the first time since 2009 and a win shy of matching the program record for wins in a season, faces Fieldcrest in Wednesday's El Paso-Gridley sectional semifinals.

“This is the best feeling in the world, just finally getting this off our back,” said Green Wave senior Joe French. “We haven't won the regional in six years, and it was just awesome to do it with this group of guys.”

While St. Edward won all four meetings, each game became progressively tighter. Friday was no exception.

The top-seeded Green Wave led by as many as 13 points in the second half and led 39-30 with four minutes left. Third-seeded IC Catholic Prep (15-14) stormed back to tie it at 40-40 on Austin Reed's 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining.

St. Edward tried milking the clock for a final shot but the Knights' Jordan Rowell stole the ball near midcourt with 10 seconds left and drove to the basket for an attempted layup. Green Wave senior forward Nick Duffy came out of nowhere to block the shot, however, and the loose ball was recovered by teammate Gino Domel.

“I was just trying to time it right so I could get a clean block,” Duffy said. “I didn't want to put him at the free-throw line. I definitely didn't want him to score.”

Domel split a pair of free throws to put St. Edward back ahead 41-40 with 7.3 seconds left. IC Catholic Prep couldn't get off a shot in the final seconds as the game ended with players scrambling for a loose ball.

“That one hurts,” said IC Catholic Prep coach T.J. Tyrrell, who last season coached the Knights to a regional title. “We dug a hole for ourselves in the first half, but we didn't give up and the kids fought. It was great to see.”

St. Edward never trailed after bursting to a 7-0 lead. The Knights knotted the score at 13 apiece on a Troy Burrows bucket, but the Green Wave closed the half on a 15-5 run.

When Kelvin Cortez-Harvey knocked down a 3-pointer coming out of halftime, the Green Wave surged to its biggest lead of 31-18. IC Catholic Prep spent the final 15 minutes catching up and nearly capped the comeback.

“At the beginning of the game, I felt like we weren't mentally ready to play,” Rowell said. “The third and fourth quarter we were just so pumped. We tied it 40-40, got the steal and just couldn't quite make it.”

French led St. Edward with 11 points while Duffy added 10 points. Burrows led all scorers with 15 points.

“We played them four times and it was four wars,” said Green Wave coach P.J. White.

Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_schmit

Images: IC Catholic Prep vs. St. Edward, boys basketball

  St. Edward's Danny Favela celebrates a 41-40 win over IC Catholic Prep. Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
  IC Catholic Prep's Jordan Rowell drives to the basket for a potential game winning layup but is denied by St. Edward's Nick Duffy, (15). Daniel White/dwhite@dailyherald.com
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