Kelly, Latham lift Irish past Northeastern

Seniors combined for 43 of Central’s 66 points in OHC victory.

Catholic Central's Mark Ellis (left) battles for a rebound with Northeastern's Andrew Williams on Friday. Contributed photo by Randy Hilt

Randy Hilt Catholic Central's Mark Ellis (left) battles for a rebound with Northeastern's Andrew Williams on Friday. Contributed photo by Randy Hilt

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 7:50 PM Saturday, January 21, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Before the start of the fourth quarter against Northeastern on Friday night, Catholic Central seniors Brian Kelly and Calum Latham looked at each other and said the exact same thing.

“We told each other we weren’t going to lose this game,” Latham said.

In the final eight minutes, Latham and Kelly put the Irish on their backs. The duo scored 17 of Catholic Central’s 20 fourth-quarter points en route to a 66-58 victory over the Jets in Ohio Heritage Conference boys basketball action on Friday night at Jason Collier Gymnasium.

Kelly had a game-high 25 points and added seven rebounds, while Latham nearly had a quadruple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds, nine steals and eight assists as the Irish improved to 9-3 and 6-3 in the OHC.

After the game, the seniors gave credit to their teammates for helping them put up big numbers.

“You can’t do it all yourself and we definitely did this as a team,” Kelly said.

The Irish led 46-40 after the third quarter, but the Jets, led by Sterling Shoemaker’s career-high 22 points, pulled to within two at 54-52 with 3:45 remaining.

After a Northeastern timeout, Kelly and Latham combined for five straight points to put the game virtually out of reach with two minutes remaining.

“We couldn’t really stop them,” said Northeastern coach Chad Mossing. “They were getting basically what they wanted off the dribble late in the game. The first half, we just weren’t able to handle their press. They knew what to do to us from the first match-up.”

The Irish, who led by 12 in the third quarter, used a 1-2-2 press to force 27 Northeastern turnovers. Central struggled at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, going 8-for-17 to help the Jets stay in the game.

Shoemaker hit five 3-pointers and Cody Parker added 13 for the Jets (7-7, 5-4 OHC), who snapped a four-game winning streak.

“(Sterling) had a great night shooting, and did a good job attacking the gaps of their zone,” Mossing said.

Irish coach Dan Shay said his team’s pressure and rebounding proved to be the difference.

“That’s what we’re about, forcing turnovers and creating off of transition,” Shay said.

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