Judge Memorial cut a 12-point deficit with five minutes to play to a 2-point margin in the closing minutes, but the Bulldog basketball team ended up losing 82-79 to Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High in Saturday night's finals of the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament.
Rob Solvason led Judge with 27 points, including seven 3-pointers; Justin Walsh, Chris Jones and Nathan Semerad added 16, 15 and 14 points, respectively.Roman Catholic, Pennsylvania's top-ranked team, was led by Lamont Jones' 26 points, while teammate Bernard Harrison added 22.
The Bulldogs never led in the game, but steals by Semerad and Michael Beierschmidt, a trey by Solvason and a rebound basket by Walsh brought Judge to within 79-77 with 1:30 left. Roman Catholic teased the `Dogs' comeback hopes by hitting only three of its final six FT attempts through the rest of the game, but Judge could get no closer.
"Playing Pennsylvania's No. 1 team to within three points shows the caliber of Utah basketball," said Judge Coach Jim Yerkovich, who was still glowing over earlier tournament wins against a pair Washington, D.C., powerhouse teams, Archbishop Carroll and DeMatha.
"It's the first time in the 30-year history of this tournament that anyone has ever beaten D.C. schools back to back."
Solvason and Jones were named to the all-tournament team, while Beierschmidt was given the top defensive honor and Semerad earned "The Boy Who Wouldn't Quit" award for having to defense nearly a half-dozen major college recruits. Solvason set tournament records for treys in a game (7) and in the three-day tournament (16), and Jones won the top assist award. Judge had the top free-throw and field-goal percentages for the tournament of the eight teams.
The tournament includes free-throw shooting and slam dunk contests, which were won by Solvason and Walsh, respectively. Solvason hit 14 of 15 in the finals to win, while Walsh won his competition by making all four of his attempted dunks.