As the final minute of Chaminade Julienne’s season passed quietly by, the chairs that seniors Danny Nauseef and AJ Solomon sat in almost touched. In the final seconds, Nauseef put his arm around his best friend and spoke. The words don’t matter. The scene said what this team has been about.
The Eagles were a team that grew into a cohesive unit with a mix of seniors and underclassmen despite two 22-day COVID-19 shutdowns. Coach Charlie Szabo has credited Nauseef and Solomon for leading CJ through those times and into the state tournament for the first time since 2015.
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But Saturday in the state semifinals at UD Arena, the team that came from 20 points down to beat Tippecanoe in the regional semifinals to save their season, couldn’t do anything about Columbus St. Francis DeSales’ defense.
The Stallions game-planned their defense well and shut down CJ 51-34 to advance to the state final for the first time since 1987. They will play Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 5:15 p.m. Sunday. DeSales (19-7) won its only state title at UD Arena in 1987.
“I don’t think this game is indicative of the season we had or who we are, but that’s the chance you take when you go to the state tournament,” Szabo said. “We had a heck of a season, we were really happy to be there, wish we’d have played better.”
There was a key moment with 2:58 left in the first quarter. Nauseef, following the game plan, set up to take a charge from DeSales star and future Davidson Wildcat Des Watson. The call went against Nauseef and was his second foul instead of Watson’s. Nauseef went to the bench for the rest of the half, Watson made two free throws for an 8-7 lead and finished the half with 16 of his 21 points, leading the Stallions to a 27-21 lead.
“I’m really interested to watch it on film,” Szabo said. “Maybe it’s a block, but I think it’s really close. That’s a big swing. If it’s a foul on Watson, maybe he goes to the bench with two fouls. Instead, it’s Danny, and that’s basketball and that’s the game.”
Nauseef put a lot of blame on himself: “I don’t think we fully showed up to the game today, especially myself. When I got in foul trouble early, I feel like I let my team down. But there’s nothing you can do about it now.”
Szabo, sitting next to Nauseef in the postgame interview area, spoke up: “It wasn’t Danny’s fault. There’s a reason we’re here, and he’s a huge part of it.”
The Eagles shot only 29.8 % from the field, but they matched DeSales 14-14 in the second quarter and were as close as three. Freshman leading scorer Jonathan Powell led the charge with 12 first-half points, hitting two 3-pointers over DeSales’ zone.
But DeSales switched to man defense in the second half and kept the ball out of the lane, a place where the Eagles had been making things happen with Solomon’s dribble penetration and Nauseef’s strong finishes at the rim. Nauseef finished with six points and Solomon four.
“It was tough for us to get good looks, get layups like we have been so far in the tournament,” Solomon said. “Props to them. They played great, they played great defense and they’re well-coached.”
Powell led the Eagles with 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting and 4-of-11 from 3-point range. Powell has had two 25-point games and finishes the season averaging 13.1.
“He’s not a typical freshman,” Szabo said. “He’s shown it over and over. He’s really driven, meets all challenges. He’s not scared of anything.”
Powell and a solid core of sophomores and juniors will return next season.
“I feel like our future is going to be real good because we have a real good team coming back,” he said. “It was a real good experience because this is my first time being in high school and first time being in a tournament like this and winning games.”
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