Cortez-Harvey reaches 1,000 but Westminster downs St. Edward
Senior guard Kelvin Cortez-Harvey eclipsed a major milestone is his varsity boys basketball career at St. Edward Friday.
But Westminster Christian's twin towers, Caleb Thomas and Ben Verslyus, wanted to celebrate a bit differently.
Cortez-Harvey needed 23 points to hit the 1,000 point mark and managed exactly that to lead everyone in scoring to go with 3 steals, but Versluys and Thomas, a pair of 6-foot-5 giants, were too tough to stop as the duo combined for 42 points in a 59-51 Warriors win at the 10th annual Westminster Thanksgiving Tournament.
Verslyus poured in 22 points and 9 rebounds while Thomas added 20 points and 7 rebounds, as the two accounted for 15 of the Warriors' 20 field goals and helped stave off a late Green Wave rally that sent Westminster (3-0) into the championship Saturday against Luther North at 7 p.m.
"We've been playing together since middle school so we have a bunch of chemistry together," Thomas said.
"When he's getting hyped I'm getting hyped," Verslyus said.
St. Edward (2-1) didn't have the size to stop either player as Thomas had 12 points in the first quarter alone. That got Verslyus going. He hammered a 2-handed slam off a breakaway for a 10-point Warrior late in the first quarter. Verslyus followed up with a left-wing 3-pointer with 4:30 left for a 31-27 lead after the Green Wave trimmed the lead to 1 the previous possession. Thomas had 18 points while Verslyus 13 at the half.
"We play really good transition ball," said Thomas, exemplified by the Warriors' 15-for-20 shooting in the first half and 55.6 percent clip for the game. "When we're running we're all looking for guys. That helps build up the lead when you're passing the ball so well."
Westminster built the lead to 17 in the third, as Elliott Brandon buried a left wing 3 with nearly one minute to go to outscore the Wave 10-4 in the quarter, the Achilles' heel for St. Edward which shot 33.9 percent.
"I have an awful lot of years where the third quarter shoots us in the foot," Wave coach PJ White said. "We just can't get up and go. But you have to give them credit for shooting the ball that well and shooting well to stay ahead in the second half because every time we made a run they answered with a run."
St. Edward nearly came all the way back when Westminster became turnover city thanks to the Wave's press. The Warriors were turned over 8 times in the fourth alone and the Wave trimmed it to 10 on a Cortez-Harvey baseline floater with 3:50 to go. His steal and layup gave him 1,000 with 3:10 left which cut the lead to 8 and AJ Franklin's deep 3 made it 52-47 with 2:50 left. Scott Graziano's subsequent layup, the first points for Westminster in the quarter, and Verslyus' free throws thereafter finally plugged a 12-0 run by the Wave, who limited Westminster to 17 second half points and 16 shot attempts.
"PJ's teams always play hard and they're always aggressive so we kind of withstood (the run)," Warriors coach Andy Zielinski said, who sighed, "I'm glad the game didn't go another five minutes."
St. Edward will play Indian Creek at 5:30 p.m. Saturday for third place, but there was a silver lining for Cortez-Harvey after all.
"It feels good to get a thousand but I'm a little down right now because it's a big rivalry between us," Cortez-Harvey said. "But it means a lot to play three years and get a thousand. I'm really thankful for all the opportunities (Coach PJ White) gave me."