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Georgetown knocks off top-seeded Bulldogs

Saturday, March, 05 By Hector Longo

MIDDLETON — Youth equals loose.

And last night with a Division 4 North quarterfinal up for grabs, the score tied 51-51 heading to the fourth quarter, loose equalled victory for Georgetown.

The 8th-seeded Royals opened the fourth with an 18-2 flurry, blowing the top-seeded Bulldogs right off their home floor, 78-62. Now 14-8, Georgetown will tangle with No. 5 Winthrop Tuesday night at Malden High.

"We only have on senior. We've got young kids, and this is a great experience," said Georgetown coach Mike Rowinski. "We had that attitude, nothing to lose, playing the no. 1 seed and it showed."

If Georgetown had nerves, they certainly had to be tested before the end of the third period, when a wrong jersey number for a reserve player thrown in for the final 1.6 seconds cost the Royals a technical foul and a three-point lead.

"Our coach just told us in the huddle do our jobs," said junior guard Tyler Wade. "There was no panic, not at all. Our energy was up, we had so much coming off the bench, we wanted it so bad."

Georgetown extended the pressure, and Wade and backcourt mate Johnny Spears wreaked havoc, pumping it down to that lone senior, Neph Carmona.

The 6-foot-3 rebound machine delivered 11 of his 18 points in that fateful fourth quarter.

"Carmona was tremendous on the boards, he did a great job neutralizing (Jordan) Smith, getting him into foul trouble," said Rowinski, noting the 6-foot-5 Bullbog center was held to just eight points.

"The press bothered them, especially with Smith out of the game. We were able to open things up more, get into our running game. That was the big difference."

With the advantage, Georgetown stared down its season-long nemesis late in the fourth, doing more than enough damage at the foul line (19 of 37 for the game) to maintain the double-figure advantage.

"We have to be the worst foul-shooting team in our league," said Rowinski.

That fact did little to hinder the ultra-cool Wade, who was 13 of 21 on the night with 10 of his team-high 21 in the fourth.

"Knock them down, move on to the next round," said Wade. "In the beginning, we all struggled, including me, but once I hit a couple, my confidence was up."

Much of the first three quarters belonged to the sophomore Spears, who dashed to the glass on his way to 19 points.

"Even (older brother) Jaymie didn't do this here at Georgetown," said Johnny of the dash to the North semis. "Tyler stepped it up, I stepped it up. We all turned it up defensively."

Georgetown's last trip to the North semis was 2007, but that came after a first-round bye and a win in the quarters.

Additional stories:

• Georgetown knocks off top-seeded Bulldogs