CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Cade Ullman was the driving force behind Parkersburg Catholic qualifying for the state tournament.
The senior guard will play at least twice at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center following his 33-point performance, which led No. 6 Parkersburg Catholic to a 58-56 victory over No. 3 Notre Dame in a Class A quarterfinal Wednesday morning.
“I knew I had to step up being a senior captain,” Ullman said. “It’s my last year and I don’t want it to end.”
The Crusaders (18-7) advance to face No. 2 Wheeling Central in Friday’s semifinal.
Parkersburg Catholic led for the majority of the contest, but had to hold off a late Notre Dame (21-5) rally to move on.
The Crusaders took a 38-33 lead into the fourth quarter and Ullman scored the first four points of the frame to key a 6-0 run.
But the Irish made three 3-pointers in a span of 2:50, including two from Gabe Zummo that helped ND cut the deficit to 49-44 with 3:19 to play.
A Jaidyn West 3 with 53 seconds to play cut a six-point PC lead in half, before the Crusaders’ Pat Copen made 1-of-2 free throws.
West made two foul shots to bring the Irish to within 55-53 with 33 seconds left, and after Jalen Brunny went 1-of-2 at the line, West’s 3 for the tie was off the mark.
Ullman and Copen each went 1-of-2 at the line in the final 17 seconds, before West drained a 3 at the buzzer.
“We tell our guys we have to make one more play than the other team and we did that today,” PC coach Rob Strcula said. “I was impressed with our composure.”
The Crusaders made five 3s in the second quarter to turn a 9-8 lead into a 26-18 halftime advantage. Ullman made three of the treys, while Copen and Peyton Amrine each connected from beyond the arc.
The Irish had only five first-half field goals and two points off turnovers, while Ullman produced more than half of his team’s offensive output with 16 points.
“This game was a microcosm of our season,” Notre Dame coach Jarrod West said. “We’ve been battling and battling and limped to the finish line to get here. We haven’t played well since the Tucker County game in the middle of season. Give all credit to Parkersburg Catholic. They executed and it was their tempo in the first half.”
PC, which lost both regular-season meetings to the Irish, built a lead as large as 13 points in the third quarter after Copen scored the first five points of the second half.
But Notre Dame outscored Parkersburg Catholic 15-7 over the final 6:26 of the third, with forward Nate Helm scoring six points to keep the Irish within striking distance.
Ullman made 10-of-22 field-goal attempts and was 4-of-6 on 3s, while Copen had 12 points and nine rebounds.
“Notre Dame has had our number for a while, but we felt like if we could keep it close early on we’d put ourselves in position to win.”
West had a team-high 24 points and made five 3s, while Helm contributed 13 points and nine rebounds in defeat.
Zummo finished with 11 points and game-high 14 rebounds, but made only 4-of-18 shots in his final high school game.
“He’s like a third son,” coach West said. “He goes on vacation with us and I really hate it for him. He’s a college-level player and one of most under-recruited players in state. This is the hardest thing about coaching.”