Gwynedd Valley, PA – The host #4-seeded Gwynedd Mercy Griffins used torrid shooting from the field this afternoon to pull away from the #5-seeded Rosemont Ravens to grab an 83-66 win in the Quarterfinal round of the CSAC Championship Tournament. The Griffins (17-9) move on to face the #1-seeded Cabrini in Radnor on Tuesday. With the result the Ravens finished their season with an overall record at 13-13.
Despite the final result, the two teams were close to each other on the scoreboard until Gwynedd Mercy took a double-digit lead in the second half and eventually pulled away. In the first half the Ravens held several five-point leads. A Clayton Wolfe layup with 12:18 on the clock gave the Ravens their largest lead of the afternoon with the score 18-13. The Griffins came back to tie the score but Rosemont again matched their five-point lead after Charles Presley hit a three-ball with nine minutes on the clock in the half to lead 25-20. Still ahead 31-26, the Griffins ended the half by outscoring Rosemont 8-2 to take a slim one-point lead into the half, 34-33.
For the half the Ravens shot 40% from the field, 25% from deep. Gwynedd mercy shot 45.8% from the field overall and 40% from beyond the arc.
Rosemont opened the second half by grabbing back the lead on a Nadir Stukes layup to go ahead 37-35 with 18 minutes left, but the lead would change hands multiple times early on in the final period.
With the Ravens ahead 42-41, a three from Gwynedd Mercy's Brian Hennessey started a run of 14-3 to give the Griffins a 10-point lead midway through the half, the first double-digit lead for either team in the game.
The Ravens would still trail by nine points with 4:10 left, but the Ravens would not convert enough field goal attempts down the stretch and were forced to foul the Griffins, who were solid from the charity stripe as the home side stretched their lead until the final seconds ticked off of the clock to end the game.
The Ravens cooled off from the field in the 2nd half, shooting 28.6% from the field and 25% from three-point land. The Griffins heated up in the decisive half, shooting 55% from the field overall, 55.6% from beyond the arc and 91.7% (22-for-24) from the foul line.
Dom Scafidi turned in a double-double in his final game, scoring 15 points with 12 boards. Marcus Thomas matched Scafidi in scoring with 15. Nadir Stukes contributed five assists in his final game.
The Griffins placed four players in double-digits, led by Darnell Artis' 25 points. Others hitting double-digits for Gwynedd Mercy were Julian Hyden (18, including 12-for-12 from the foul line), Brian hennessey (15), and Cedric Elleby (11). Artis was also credited with eight assists.
