Cathedral does not fold, knocks off top-ranked Silver Creek in Class 3A showdown
Cathedral trailed by eight points entering the fourth quarter. But Irish rally behind Keaton Aldridge to take out No. 1 Silver Creek.
SEYMOUR – Before Saturday night’s Class 3A semistate clash between No. 1 Silver Creek and third-ranked Cathedral, Irish head coach Jason Delaney quipped that his game plan to contain the Dragons’ Dane Caldwell was to pray. Well, that prayer went unanswered – Caldwell scored 31 points for Silver Creek – but a different prayer was in Cathedral’s thrilling 73-68 comeback win to advance to the state final.
“The (other) prayer was us coming together and not folding,” Delaney said. “We had many chances to fold. At halftime, there were some nerves there.
Guys stuck together. ” Cathedral trailed by eight points entering the fourth quarter but erased the deficit within minutes to tie the game up 52-52 with under five to play. From there, the Irish kept attacking and warded off a late Dragons' rally that kept it close.
The toughness of senior guard Keaton Aldridge and his ability to match Caldwell’s scoring gave Cathedral a huge lift. At one point, Aldridge took a blow to the face that drew blood. Later, severe cramps got the best of him as he was barely able to stagger to the free throw line.