CLARKSBURG, W.Va — Notre Dame finished off the week in style with a 65-60 upset victory over Charleston Catholic in Clarksburg on Friday. Earlier in the week, Notre Dame knocked off highly-touted Parkersburg Catholic, 61-60, on the road before coming home and protecting its house.
”We’re trying to get where Charleston Catholic is, the tradition, the state championship almost every year it seems like,” Notre Dame coach Jarrod West said. ”That’s a great win for us and a great week for us, going to Parkersburg Catholic No. 6 in the state and beating those guys.”
With 3:20 left in the game, Notre Dame senior Cal Cistaro drove to the bucket and pulled up for a jumper, knocking down the shot and drawing a foul. After converting the three-point play, Notre Dame led 59-55. Catholic would cut the lead to three twice in the final minutes, but Notre Dame converted 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
”Notre Dame played well (tonight), Coach West had them ready,” Charleston Catholic coach Bill McClanahan said. “They played harder and made better decisions and they executed better at the end, so they deserved to win.”
Cistaro finished with a team-high 17 points for Notre Dame, including a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Philip Chafin added 15 points and young Jarred West energized his dad’s team with 13 points off the bench. West, who entered the game with his team down six, hit two 3’s and sparked a run for his team.
“I’m very proud of him, he’s growing up in front of my eyes,” West said of his son. “He really respects McCarty, who in my mind is the best point guard in Class A, so he learned on the job tonight.”
Charleston Catholic was led by their senior leaders Nick George and Garrett McCarty. George had a game-high 27 points, but was just 3-for-6 from the line in the decisive quarter. McCarty finished with 22 points, including 19 after the half as he found himself on the bench much of the first half with foul trouble.
”Those are two first-team all-staters and they’re seniors, while their performance is impressive I’m not at all surprised,” McClanahan said. ”I see it everyday and I’ve seen it for years from those two.”
Catholic stayed in the game by shooting 9-of-15 from 3, including four each from George and McCarty..
“We shot the ball well from 3 and it kept us in the game,” McClanahan said. “But if you look at it from a coaches perspective we had an advantage inside and we didn’t exploit it like we should have.”
Notre Dame improves to 9-2 on the year as the Irish will be on the road next at Trinity on Monday.
Catholic, meanwhile, falls to 5-2 and hosts Gilmer County on Saturday night.
** A few other scores from around the state Friday night: Power Index overall No. 1 Washington knocked off No. 4 Hedgesville, 77-62. It was No. 3 Parkersburg South beating No. 9 Wheeling Park, 71-65. Also, No. 7 Huntington edged No. 5 Capital, 69-68.