PJP II comes up short

Pope John Paul II showed heart and determination as the Jaguars nearly came all the way back from a 36-18-second quarter deficit, but came up short in a 62-60 loss to Fisher High in a non-district game held last Tuesday at PJP.

“We haven’t started well in a game in a couple weeks,” PJP coach Major Gorgone said. “We’ve been that team that spots the other team for whatever reason.”

The Jaguars, who never led in the game, are 12-3.

Pope John Paul II trailed 36-18 with 3:31 left in the second quarter as the Gators were shooting lights out to start.

Then PJP went on a 12-3 run to end the half and cut the lead to 39-30.

“We got hot early and then we lost it a little bit,” Fisher coach Carey Landry said. “In the second half we started getting a few, but then they tightened up on their defense. I think we had to work the ball in more and we had some turnovers.”

In the second half, Fisher’s Daniel Lefebvre, who finished with 16 points, hit one of his five 3-pointers, upping the score to 42-30.

Then PJP’s Ryan Palmisano, who tied Taylor Davie with a team-high 14 points, drove from the free-throw line to the bucket for a layup.

Then Scott Joffe, who scored 12 points and had a great night passing, hit Davie for another layup, but Fisher scored to make it, 44-34, with 5:11 left in the third period.

Joffe’s hot passing continued as he found Palmisano for another bucket to make it 44-36.

The game continued to seesaw and PJP was down 46-40 with 3:51 left and it was 49-43 after the third quarter.

In the fourth period, PJP’s Joel Price grabbed a rebound and hit a layup, trimming the lead to 49-45, but Fisher’s Corey Plaisance, who recorded 15 points, including two treys, hit a bucket.

Later in the period, Joffe made a pass to Calvin Brazley for a layup, but once again, the Gators came back with a layup by Jared Sanders.

Things got real exciting down the stretch as Joffe and Davie hooked up once again and it was 53-49 with 4:59 left.

On the next possession, Fisher missed a pair of free throws and then Matt Binder, who poured in 12 points, hit one of his three treys and it was 53-52 with 4:15 remaining.

The Gators went on a 5-0 run and led 58-52 with just under 2:55 left. Austin Bass capped the spurt as he split free throws. He missed the second shot, but got the rebound and the put back.

But Pope John Paul II wouldn’t go away. Palmisano hit a 3-pointer with 2:38 left and coach Gorgone called timeout with his team down 58-55 and 2:38 left.

The strategy worked as the Jaguars applied a full-court press and Binder came up with a steal in the backcourt and a layup. Fisher came back with another layup. The lead was 60-57 with 2:02 to go.

With less than one minute left, PJP committed three fouls, getting Fisher into the bonus. With 41.4 seconds left, Fisher’s Kellen Manor was sent to the line for a 1-and-1, but he missed the front end.

Joffe and Davie hooked up for a hoop and it was a 60-59 game with 27 seconds left.

Then Manor split from the charity stripe with 21.7 left.

PJP turned the ball over on the next possession as a player traveled when he slipped. Fisher’s Christian Bouligny split free throws to make it 61-59 with 6.9 seconds remaining, but on the second one, Brazley was fouled going for the board. Attempting to tie the game, he also split free throws. A tie ball on the rebound went the way of Fisher with 3.3 to go. Lefebvre was fouled with 1.7 left and he hit the second of two.

The Jaguars had one final chance. Joffe’s last second shot from halfcourt drew iron, but was no good.