CRLS Claims Boys State Basketball Title In Thriller

WORCESTER, Mass.--Patrick Ewing. Rumeal Robinson, and now, Louis Ford.

Ford, the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) superstar, added his name to the list of CRLS hardcourt greats Saturday night when he led the boys' varsity basketball team to a stirring 73-69 Div. 1 state championship over Holy Name of Worcester.

"I think we were going to find a way to win it last night," said CRLS Head Coach Lance Dottin. "We wanted it so much more than Holy Name, we were going to find a way to win that game."

A 5'3 dynamo of agility and blinding speed, Ford, the CRLS point guard, was largely contained in the first half, only making one of his first nine field goal attempts. Holy Name jumped out to early 8-2 and 35-21 leads, threatening to put the game away, but CRLS (24-1) clawed back, going on an 11-0 run to pull within 3 by halftime.

Following a somewhat sloppy first half, both teams' play improved markedly in the second half. Cambridge's Falcons ran a trapping press, and Holy Name's Naps--short for Napoleons--regained the composure they had at the beginning of the game. And with a state title on the line, both teams dived on the floor--and on each other--much more frequently.

CRLS remained hot, jumping out to a 45-40 lead after completing a remarkable 24-5 run. But the Naps (22-2) quickly answered, as they would the rest of the game.

While the Falcons relied on Ford and Greater Boston League (GBL) All-Star Stephen Passley's three-point marksmanship, the Naps, led by forward Mike Lapriore (21 points) and guard Symere McClain (19 points), responded to each CRLS basket with a bucket of their own.

With the game tied at 58 and just over three minutes remaining, CRLS was forced to heave up a three-pointer as the shot clock neared zero. It fell short, but Ford, in an amazing show of athleticism, caught the ball in mid-air and put in an reverse lay-up to put the Falcons ahead for good.

As the game entered its tense final minutes, Ford took over, scoring 15 of Cambridge's final 17 points. The Falcons' All-Scholastic captain, this year's GBL Most Valuable Player, was all over the place, making steals, diving on the floor, shooting, passing and driving straight down the court to get clobbered in the lane by Holy Name players a foot taller than himself.

"It's all part of the game," said Ford, who finished with a game-high 22 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and four steals. "I'm used to it. We've been playing like that my whole life."

Up 69-67 with 31 seconds left, CRLS turned the ball over after a risky inbounds pass, but managed to finally stop Holy Name on the offensive end.

From there, Ford iced the game by sinking four free throws--giving him a perfect 10 for 10 on the night--the last of which came with CRLS holding a 71-69 lead with 4.2 seconds remaining.

As the buzzer sounded, the Cambridge side of the Centrum exploded in jubiliation, while the CRLS team collapsed in a pig pile at center court. Ford, looking a bit like Jim Volvano, darted to one end of the court, his arms raised in victory.

"I'm just so proud and thrilled for these young men," Dottin said last night. "They worked so hard from the beginning of the season to the end...four years of these guys working together, playing together, all paid off last night."

"We set out to improve every single day," he said. "I felt like if we did that, we would give ourselves a great chance of being able to compete for thes state champtionship."

Ford said the team was confident heading into the game, despite having its only loss of the season come in a 23-point blowout to Holy Name in December.

"In the beginning of the year we were a totally different team. We hadn't really found our identity," Ford said. "We were the underdogs going into the game, so that makes it even better."

Ford was quick to give credit to his teammates, particurarly long-shooting guards Anthony Johnson (17 points) and Passley (16 points).

Passley did not hit a shot in the first half, but came on strong from behind the arc down the stretch.

"He stuck in there," Ford said. "[He has a] real big heart for him to come out there and make real big shots at the end of the game."

Even when Holy Name seemed to be pulling away, Ford said, he had a lot of confidence in his team.

"Just come out and play Cambridge basketball," he said he told them. "[We had] a lot of heart. That's what Cambridge pride is all about."

With the victory, CRLS won its first state title since 1990 and its

sixth overall since the school was formed by a merger in 1977, continuing a proud basketball tradition begun by Patrick Ewing, who led CRLS to its first three state championships from 1979-81. Rumeal Robinson, Ford's half-brother, continued the tradition with a state title of his own in 1986, followed by another title with Omo Moses four years later.

But it's also a tradtion which has meant a whole lot of pressure for those coaches who have followed in Mike Jarvis' (1978-1985) and Al Cocolutto's (1985-1993) wake. The contract of Kevin Moore, the coach from 1993-1996, was not renewed in June 1996 despite leading the team to a 48-11 record during his tenure.

Under Dottin, who played with Robinson on the 1986 state championship team, CRLS has won four consecutive GBL titles, twice advancing to the Eastern Mass. title game.

Ford, a two-year All-State player, said he doesn't know yet where he will be going to college next year, but his place in CRLS' illustrious basketball history is secure.

"If you talk about a four -year career, Louie Ford would probably go down as the best point guard I've ever seen," Dottin said. "We're really going to miss him."

--Staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at ebcolby@fas.harvard.edu.