Battle of the Hall's ~ Cascia Falls 61-60 to Dutch

SCOREBOARD
In an electrified atmosphere at the Holland Hall gym, the Dutch knocked off the arch-rival, 2nd ranked Cascia Hall Commando's 61-60.

The Dutch were led by 6'5" senior Brock Morton's 28 points and 12 rebounds,, which were just the obvious components he utilized to dismantle the larger, more experienced and favored Cascia Hall.  Young Dutch players Bailey Miles, sophomore transfer from Bishop Kelley High School, and sophomore Ethan Elbert, who started for Mounds High School last year, were red hot from beyond the 3 point line to support Morton, who took his battles into the mid range area.

Bill Russell didn't score a lot of points for the Boston Celtics. However, he was unquestionably THE leader of the Celtic dynasty,,,, with his incredible goal tending style of defense. Standing 6'9", he was about 6" taller than Holland Hall's William Tisdale. But Tisdale gave Coach Brad Shelley reason to smile with his superb defensive abilities he displayed against the Commando's. Tisdale, whose uncle Waymon was the best basketball player EVER to put on an Oklahoma Sooner jersey, had at least four blocked shots during the middle two quarters to frustrate Cascia Hall and keep them from establishing an inside presence. Although slightly built, compared to his muscular father, former BTW Hornet William, Sr., Tisdale's explosive and QUICK jumping ability enabled him to alter Cascia's shots, and lead the way for the Dutch victory.

Cascia jumped out to an early advantage behind the scoring of senior Will Bryant and his junior brother Luke Bryant ["dribbling siblings"] but the Dutch fought back and when Morton connected on two free throws after the first half clock had expired, the score stood Southside [Holland] Hall 32 and Mid-Town [Cascia] Hall 29.

When Morton's no look pass found Miles in the corner, and Miles connected for his 3rd consecutive trey, the Dutch were looking at a surprising 10 point advantage at 41-31. But all-state football receiver/cornerback, and former DUTCH student Price Pinkerton, led Cascia back into the game with his best offensive explosion of the season.

Cascia finally knotted the score midway 4th quarter, and from there, the lead bounced back and forth as Pinkerton and Morton kept exchanging blows. Each scored 10 points in the final quarter, with Morton's pullup 12 foot jumper with 35 seconds remaining proving to be the game winning shot.

However, the game was far from decided at that point. Elbert had the defensive assignment to shut down Pinkerton as the clock wound down, and made a superb defensive slide to prohibit the red hot Pinkerton from penetrating. Pinkerton pulled up for a 15 footer which came up short, but Cascia's Sam Clancy, who quarterbacked the Commando's to their second consecutive football state championship just 13 days earlier, tied up Miles on the rebound and gave Cascia another chance. [Speaking of championships, do you realize that Cascia Hall would have to win the State Football crown for the next FIVE YEARS in a row to equal what I believe is the most amazing record EVER in sports...... the John Wooden led UCLA Bruins and their SEVEN, yes 7, consecutive NCAA National Basketball Championships....truly unbelieveable!]

Another Cascia miss and Pinkerton was called for a foul on Elbert with just four seconds remaining. One of the referees signaled the one and one situation, before timeout was called by Cascia Hall Head Coach Brian Rahilly. He and his assistant, Tulsa University Athletic Hall of Fame member Tracey Moore,  apparently did not notice the scoreboard [see pic above] which clearly showed that it was Cascia Hall's 4th team foul, thus, the Dutch would receive the ball out of bounds. There was obvious confusion as the 3 officials seemed to be a little confused themselves.

When the timeout ended, Cascia's players came out and proceeded to march down the court to line up for the free throw on the Dutch end; meanwhile, right in front of the Cascia Hall bench, before realizing what was happening, the referee handed the ball to the Dutch player, who passed inbound to an uncontested Morton before the last 4 seconds ticked off and the only thing that mattered was the picture above. 61-60 Dutch. Four team fouls. Game Over. Immediately as the horn sounded, the Holland Hall student body swarmed the floor to celebrate the upset victory over Tulsa's "other" Hall.

Alan Santos, the only senior besides Morton to see action, made several slick assist for the Dutch who also recieved strong production from Jake Freudenrich and William Tisdale, both who blocked shots and came up with key rebounds. Their inside presence was invaluable.

Morton snared 10 rebounds, dished 4 assists and totalled 3 steals. He was 2 for 4 from 3 point range. His knack of always playing his hardest, was never more on display than it was on this Friday night at the Dutch gym. A lot of heart and desire along with some phenomenal 3 pt shooting by Miles and Elbert were just enough to keep the Dutch unbeaten for the year. Morton was recently named by VYPE High School Sports Magazine as one of the ELITE 4 Boys in Green Country this year. If he keeps playing like he did against Cascia Hall, more honors are sure to come.

Coach Brad Shelley, in his first year at the Dutch helm, can now claim an undefeated record in his first "Year" at Holland Hall, as the Dutch raised their record to 7-0 and don't play again until the Oklahoma City Heritage Hall tournament on January 1rst, 2nd and 3rd.

Holland Hall travels to #1 Ranked Metro Christian on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009. Their next home game is a rematch against NOAH at 8 pm on January 9th.

The Dutch open their Southwest Preparatory Conference schedule on January 16th, at home against Dallas Greenhill.

A rematch against Mid-Town [Cascia] Hall is scheduled for January 27th at 8 pm at the Commando gym.