City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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As the clock ticked down at the end of the quarter, Constitution’s Anthony Satchell just wanted to get some type of basket to stop Conwell-Egan’s run.

Satchell’s original plan was to drive to the hoop, but when he saw the lane was clogged, he had to pull up for a three. He buried it, which cut the Conwell-Egan lead from eight points to five and set the tone for the game’s final quarter.

Satchell and teammate Tamir Green took over for Constitution in the final eight minutes and lifted the Generals to a 58-53 win over Conwell-Egan on Day 2 of the Jameer Nelson Classic at Chestnut Hill College.

Satchell (21 points) and Green (20 points) combined for more than two-thirds of Constitution’s point, and the duo was responsible for every basket or free throw that the Generals needed in the last few minutes. Generals coach Rob Moore noted he didn’t have to tell the backcourt combo of upperclassmen to do what they did in the fourth quarter. It’s just instinct at this point.

“It goes unsaid. That is just their personalities,” Moore said. “It’s just natural for those two guys. I’m waiting for some other guys to help them out, but they have been fabulous for the most part.”

Green and Satchell sparked a 24-8 run which started with Satchell’s triple to beat the third quarter buzzer. Conwell-Egan led 39-31 before the shot, and the Eagles trailed, 55-47, with less than a minute left.

“I kept my head up the whole time and was hoping the floor was spaced out enough for me to get to the basket,” Satchell said of his key 3-pointer. “But it wasn’t, and they were in help defense, so I pulled up. It did feel like it swung momentum for us.”

Satchell, a 6-foot senior, saved his best basketball for the late stages, scoring 11 points in the game’s final nine minutes. Green, a 5-8 junior point guard, notched a team-best four assists in the victory as well.

Both Satchell and Green said that winning was the only thing on their minds entering the fourth quarter, and they made sure of it to get Constitution a much-needed win. The victory pushed the Generals to 5-6 on the season, and they’ve faced a tough schedule and had three of those defeats come in overtime.

A theme, however, has been slow starts for Constitution and Wednesday’s game wasn’t an exception, as the teams combined for just 13 points in the first quarter. But then once they got going, it was an eight-day layoff and fresh legs which Green said he thought helped the Generals when it mattered most.

“This year, as a team, we always start off real slow,” Green said. “It’s been like that all season, starting flat and slow. We stopped settling for threes, and we felt like we needed to just go out and play. We had great energy in the fourth quarter.”

Constitution was also able to slow Conwell-Egan’s LaPri McCray-Pace a bit in the final quarter, but the 6-4 senior still was able to post a game-high 21 points and pull down even rebounds. Vinny Dalessandro added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, but the team was outscored 24-14 in the final quarter to fall to 5-2 this season.

On the other hand, Constitution gets to end 2015 on a high note. Moore mentioned he coaches much more for February and March than December and January. And for now, it’s about becoming the team he wants to be in six weeks.

“We’ve been struggling to find our identity,” Moore said. “We don’t lack talent, we just haven’t figured out our identity, and it shows in games. At spurts, Anthony is the guy, then in spurts Tamir is the guy. We’re just trying to, chemistry-wise, on the same page.”