By TONY BELLISSIMO
But unexpectedly, the Tigers dug a 12-point hole early in the second quarter against a team they beat twice during the regular season. That was when seniors Tyrone Nash and Josh Marshall flipped the switch.
Nash's three-point play with 2:55 left in the first half ignited a 12-3 spurt that gave the Tigers the lead and spelled the end for Upper Room. LWA poured it on thereafter to pull away to an 80-52 win, earning its 11th IPPSAL title in 12 seasons. It outscored the Royals 72-34 over the last three quarters.
Nash, a 6-foot-7, left-handed shooting forward who was being scouted by Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser, had 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Marshall, a 6-foot-5 forward, had an even bigger night, hitting 14 of 18 shots for a game-high 31 points. Senior guards R.J. Rutledge and Chris Larrea added 13 points and six assists, respectively.
"I don't know if we were flat, anxious or nervous, but we dug a pretty good-sized hole," Coach Jeff Weiss said. "Once we started knocking down some shots, we started to relax and play our game. Upper Room is a tough and talented team, and hopefully we learned we're not going to win games just by showing up."
The Tigers (19-3), a state Federation Class A finalist a year ago, turned the ball over eight times in the opening quarter and fell behind 20-8 with 7:26 left in the first half. "We tried to make things interesting," assistant coach John Schandler said. "We didn't change anything after we fell behind. We just fought back in the second quarter and made more of an effort in the second half to get the ball inside to Tyrone and Josh. They were too much to handle."
Marshall nailed a three-pointer for the first points of the third quarter, and the tide began to turn. "I sensed our confidence was starting to grow early in the second half, and controlling the boards meant a lot," Weiss explained. "We're that much tougher when we rebound."
Only Grady (Brooklyn), Campus Magnet (Queens) and St. Raymond's (Bronx) have beaten the Tigers so far this season. Next up is the Collegiate Tournament, where they will play three games, beginning with Trevor Day School on Feb. 23. No matter the results, LWA is already headed to the New York State Association of Independent Schools tournament March 2-5.
