REPLAY: Brother Martin holds off Shaw to remain unbeaten in district play

MARRERO – It was Senior Night at Archbishop Shaw for a Catholic League rematch between Brother Martin.

In the end, a pair of seniors from the visiting Crusaders that made the difference.

Brother Martin held off the Eagles 46-43 in a game aired live Tuesday at CrescentCitySports.com.

The win gave the Crusaders a home-and-home district sweep of Shaw and maintained their unbeaten district record.

The first half belonged to Brother Martin senior Grant DeLord while the second half belonged to Crusaders senior Brock Ranlett.

DeLord, who finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, scored 10 points in the first half while Ranlett, who finished with 17 points, scored 13 in the second half. Ranlett was 7-of-11 from the field.

Brother Martin had to withstand a frenetic ending to the contest.

It appeared the game was over after Kenneth Taylor of Shaw hit a 3-pointer with 6.8 seconds left to cut the Brother Martin lead to 44-43.

Without any timeouts, the clock then expired as the Crusaders did not have to inbound the basketball.

After Brother Martin players left the floor, the officials huddled for five minutes before deciding to put 2.6 seconds back on the clock, saying there was a clock malfunction.

DeLord was fouled and made both free throws and the Eagles could not get a shot off before time expired.

The Crusaders came out defensively with great intensity, showing Shaw many looks and caused five turnovers as the Eagles started its four seniors. Brother Martin led 8-5 at the end of the quarter.

Brother Martin built an 18-8 lead in the second quarter before Shaw cut the deficit to 22-16. DeLord finished the half with 10 points and six rebounds for the Crusaders while Kameron Johnson had six points for Shaw.

The Eagles ramped things up defensively in the third quarter, forcing seven turnovers and cut the lead to three at 28-25 before Brother Martin led 30-25 at the end of the quarter, setting the stage for the fourth quarter.

Brother Martin built a 42-33 lead in the final frame before Shaw went on a pair or 6-0 runs but fell short.

The Eagles never led in the game and there was just one tie at 2-2.

Corey Skillman added nine points, four steals, two rebounds and two assists while Marvin Jones had eight points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal for Brother Martin.

“To go on the road against a team like Shaw and to win in their gym is huge for us,” Brother Martin coach Chris Biehl said. “Tonight, we were really thin on the bench so I really counted on Brock Ranlett and Grant DeLord who I believe played all 32 minutes each. They were great. The boys coming off the bench played hard. I feel like that was a truly gutsy win and the kind of win that we can build on. We still need to fix some things. We hope to get Parker Dinsdale back on Thursday, Jace Patin back on Saturday and Clayton Lonardo a week from Wednesday.”

The Crusaders defeated the Eagles 56-51 last Saturday night at Bob Conlin Gymnasium.

Johnson topped Shaw with 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals while Isaiah Crawford had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, scoring nine points in the second half.

“We missed a lot of easy looks at the basket,” Shaw coach Wes Laurendine said. “Credit Brother Martin. Ranlett was fantastic. He plays really hard. We played hard for about 28 minutes, not the entire time, especially in the first half. We relied on too many spurts instead of consistency. I’m extremely proud of my team, where they have come from and where they are now. They represent our school wonderfully.”

The Crusaders (18-6, 6-0) return to district play, hosting Archbishop Rummel Thursday night at 7 p.m. while the Eagles (15-8, 6-5), who have lost three straight, will play at John Curtis Christian Friday night.

FINAL
BM 8 14 8 16 — 46
AS 11 9 18 — 43

Scoring:

BM—Brock Ranlett 17, Grant DeLord 12, Corey Skillman 9, Marvin Jones 8

AS—Kameron Johnson 13, Isaiah Crawford 11, Kenneth Taylor 5, Corey Reed 5, Rodney Phillips 3, Jene Baquet 2, Isaiah Barnes 2

Rebounds: BM 32, AS 26

Assists: BM 10, AS 6

Turnovers: BM 16, AS 15