Benefield: Windsor boys play Cardinal Newman tough in 42-35 basketball loss

WINDSOR - It was camouflage night in the Windsor High School gym Thursday for the highly anticipated meeting of the Cardinal Newman Cardinals and the Windsor Jaguars - the two remaining unbeaten boys' basketball squads in the North Bay League.

Maybe the battle for league supremacy calls for a little dress-up disguise.

But when the scoreboard showed an otherworldly “Home: 5, Guest: 0” at the end of eight minutes of play, I wanted answers. What is going on? Newman missed 20 shots in the opening eight minutes.

Then I looked across the crowded gym to the student section. It looked and sounded like a very loud duck blind.

Camouflage night? Maybe these guys can't see the basket.

It was crazy.

Cardinal Newman coach Tom Bonfigli has been at this a long time. He has 740 career wins. After the game he said can't ever remember getting blanked for a full quarter.

But Bonfigli chose to focus on the positive.

“That was the best defense we've played all season,” the coach said.

In a battle that eventually loosened up, the visitors came away with a crucial 42-35 league win, handing the Jaguars their first loss in league play.

Newman is now 16-2 and 6-0 in league while the Jaguars fell to 14-4 and 5-1 in league.

The victory came largely on the back of Cardinal Newman guard Damian Wallace. But you would have never believed it watching the first quarter.

The senior finished with 16 points after coming up empty for the first 13 minutes of the game.

“I don't think we've ever shot that bad,” he said. “But we held them to five points so we must have been playing some good defense.”

Vintage Wallace.

“There is no panic in this team,” Bonfigli said. “The ball is going to go in. We are too good shooters, too good players.”

Both teams seemed a bit out of sync from the opening tip.

First clue: At the opening jump between the Jaguars' Riley Smith and Newman's Gavin Dove, the ball went out of bounds. They had to do a do-over.

“We didn't have any rhythm,” Windsor coach Travis Taylor said.

As the second half unfolded, the Cardinals seemed to reap some karmic return for the woeful first half they endured.

In the third quarter, fresh off a tough bucket amid a sea of Cardinals, Jags junior Riley Smith got a powerful block, but the rejection ended up in the hands of Wallace, who was camped out beyond the arc.

He had no trouble finding the net this time: three.

It gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game.

“We knew eventually they would start falling and so we just needed to keep attacking the rim and putting up shots,” Wallace said.

Windsor was led in heart, if not points, by Travis Carlozzi. The junior forward had eight points but kept the pedal down for Windsor, especially in the second half.

“Carlozzi had a great game,” Bonfigli said. “He is a great player.”

So key was Carlozzi to what the Jaguars were trying to do Thursday night that that raucous gym filled with camo-wearing students fell nearly silent when Carlozzi, with four fouls, drove to the hoop and the whistle sounded.

In what very well could have been the end of the night for the junior, it turned out to be a called block on Newman senior Jalen Dural. Carlozzi eventually fouled out with 35 seconds left in the contest.

“They pounded us on the glass,” he said.

Despite having the services of 6-foot-7 twins Justin and Riley Smith, the Jaguars gave up second and third chances to Cardinal Newman.

That was fine in the first half when the Cardinals couldn't buy a basket, but it came back to haunt the Jags in the second when the shots finally started falling for Newman.

But Taylor said the team that goes home with the league banner was not decided Thursday night.

“I told them (before the game) the winner of this game is not the league champ and the loser is not out of the race,” Taylor said. “I would say the same thing if we had won.”

Bonfigli was equally unwilling to crown anyone champion after Thursday night.

“They are every bit as good as we are. We just got a few more points,” he said.

When I asked if the win put Newman in the driver's seat heading into the second half of the season, Bonfigli's answer was swift.

Nope.

“The driver's seat is good enough until Monday” when the Cardinals play Casa Grande at home, he said. “On Monday there could be a new driver.”

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes and SoundCloud “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”