Feb. 20th Memorial at Spaulding

Memorial 64 Spaulding 61

Mem – 16 18 12 18 – 64
Spau - 11 20 18 12 – 61


Before I talk about the game I have to mention how entertaining the drive was to Rochester on Rte 125. I thought my next used car purchase would take place in Dover, but after tonight I’m giving thoughts to what Rochester has to offer in the used car business. There is a stretch of 125 where you can buy anything for any stage of your life. Feeling a mid life crisis coming on, well head on down to 125 in Rochester. Take your pick from trucks, cars, motorcycles and RVs. If you have a tough time making a decision and need to sleep on it then the Riviera Motel seems like the place to go. There is a certain neon/horror movie je ne say quois that makes you look and almost drive off of 125 when focusing on The Riviera. A hard decision had to be made shortly after passing The Riviera: The Rochester Elks Lodge had a karaoke night with Ron and Donna. The Elks parking lot was packed which showed the Memorial at Spaulding match up wasn’t the only game in town. As I stared at the Elks Lodge I thought to myself: WWJLD (What Would Jeremy Leveille Do?). Using Jeremy for inspiration I passed on an evening with Ron and Donna at the Elks and continued to the RCC. Unless you know where the RCC is it can be difficult to find. The sign at the entrance has that 25 watt feel that says, “Don’t turn here.” After pulling Uturns in other lovely parts of Rochester I finally found my way into the RCC parking lot and was it worth the effort.

Memorial started the game on a 12 – 2 run with C. Fitz hitting two 3’s. Memorial continued a nice offensive attack based on balanced scoring from McLean, Couture, Morgan and Fitz. They had a 16 – 11 lead heading into the second period and bumped the lead into double figures. Spaulding had a tough go offensively partly due to the benching of sharp shooter Brad Mondoux for the first 12 minutes of the game. Red Raider faithful said it might have stemmed from disciplinary action from the Pinkerton game this past Wednesday. Memorial was definitely controlling the game, but then Mondoux comes into the game mid way through the 2nd period and immediately drains a 3 that energizes Red Raider Land. Spaulding cuts into Memorial’s lead and is only down 34 – 31 at halftime. Junior point guard Taylor Giullian was very impressive in the 2nd period for Spaulding with some nice assists and good floor leadership. Senior Glenn Rodrick had a nice first half for Spaulding scoring 13 points. Fitzpatrick had 11 points to lead Memorial in the opening half.

Spaulding asserted their offense in the 3rd period and looked sharper offensively than Memorial. A Mondoux 3 with 1 minute left in the 3rd gave Spaulding their first lead of the game at 46 – 44. Spaulding took a 49 – 46 lead into the 4th and then had their biggest lead of the night when they went up 51 – 46. With 6:30 to go in the game and Memorial floundering Coach Fitz made an interesting move by taking out Couture and C. Fitz. This worked for the next 2 minutes as Memorial attacked the offensive and defensive glass with ferocity with Edhem and McLean in the game at the same time. McLean forced his will on the Red Raiders as he had a key And 1 3 point play, some rebounds and a couple of hustle plays to keep the ball alive for Memorial. The Crusaders took the lead back with the bigger line up. Couture and Fitz came back in the game with 4 mins to go. Spaulding went cold and Memorial had a 5 to 6 point lead heading into the stretch. C. Fitz was at the line for 2 shots, Memorial up by 4 and about 1:30 left. He misses the first and then swishes the second to give Memorial a five point……. Oh no, the FT is waved off, as Zenni inexplicably enters the 3 point area in back of C. Fitz before the ball enters the orange area. It officially goes down as 2 misses from the line for Fitz. When do you think was the last time he missed 2 FTs in a row? Bad mental mistake for Memorial. This let Spaulding back in the game. Guillian gets a nice feed and banks it in to put Spaulding within 2. Morgan hits a FT to put Memorial up by 3. Giullian hits a swish 3 to tie the game with about 50 seconds to go. Memorial comes down and all were wondering if it’s last shot time. They run some sets and Morgan penetrates baseline, gets suffocated by the basket and kicks it out to senior Scott Marchwicz who calmly drains an elbow extended 3 with 23 seconds to go. Spaulding goes TO. Mondoux had a good look for a 3 which he missed. He gets the ball back off the rebound, dribbles around the arc and tosses a 3 at the buzzer which didn’t come close.

Memorial escapes with the W. They had balanced scoring. Edhem played really well coming off the bench. C. Fitz had a good overall game. Couture finished with 7, but is still trying to find his offensive stride. Morgan had the dribble drive burst to the rack that really helped Memorial tonight. Dan McLean was immense with scoring, rebounding and over all hustle. He gets my game ball tonight. Jeremy, I hate to keep beating a dead blogging horse, but you know what I’m talking about with Mr McLean. Taylor Giullian can play the point. The junior finished with 14 points and some nice assists. Spaulding can give some teams some fits. At 4 – 10 they are a team that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

In case you were wondering….. I did not stop at the Rochester Elks Lodge on the way back to listen to Ron and Donna. I did take one long last look at the Riviera Motel.


Memorial: Fitz 15 Morgan 13 McLean 9 Couture 7 Mahmutovic 6 Zenni 5 Marchwicz 5 Desire and Landry with 2 each. 16 – 26 from the FT line.

Spaulding: Rodrick 16 Giullian 14 Mondoux 12 Paradis 8 Cronin 6 Christie 3 Slattery 2. 7 – 12 from the FT line.

That Memorial team is another team that is Hot and Cold. I think they are capable of beating anyone, have a decent roster and have one of the two best coaches in Class L but are surprised about how odd some of their games have been this year. This includes this game against Spaulding (who is just not a good team), their loss against Goffstown who I think is as not good as Spaulding, only scoring 29 against Winnie and last week getting blown out by Dover who I feel they match up very well with. They could be very dangerous once the Tourney starts but have not really seen the consistency I expected from them this year.
Any thoughts on this?

The Crusaders are a little tough to figure out at times. I've seen them several times this season and have witnessed the good(double OT win over Central), the bad(embarassing home loss to Winnacunnet) and the ugly(blowout loss in the finals of the QCIBT to Dover). The inconsistency really shouldn't be much of a surprise because this is a team that returned just 1 player, Matt Couture, who saw significant time on last year's team that reached the Class L Championship game. Unfair comparison's to last year's team may be the biggest problem this team has to deal with. But as Janet Jackson said, "What have you done for me lately?" That's what people care about. Fact is, they are now 9 and 5 after a win at Spaulding last night and will be very much a dangerous team come March. Credit needs to be given to coach Fitzpatrick for completely overhauling the fortunes of the Memorial program in just 2 years.

Last year when the sheets hit the fan for Memorial they always leaned on Chevy to pull them out of any pothole they fell into in the Class L road. One constant was 20 points and 10 to 15 rebounds from Chevy every single game. That was a big loss for Memorial. I know people say every team loses players, but you still have to replace them. Last night Memorial received 17 points, tons of rebounds and good decisions from their 3 Bigs. They escaped with a 3 point victory. Now, that was a great effort from Memorial's 3-headed big man. When the stats are lower for the 3-headed big man, then a lot of pressure is put on Fitz and Couture to carry the point load. If their shot is off and Morgan isn't finishing then that's when you see a 29 to 40 point offensive output for the Crusaders. I have seen Memorial 10 times this year and maybe in 2 - 3 of those games they were cohesive as an offensive unit. When they put it all together offensively they can beat anybody. If Memorial can jell on offense, cut down on mental mistakes and go on a nice run, I wouldn't want to play them.