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Toomey leads Villains to state title
AP Photo
Aaron Toomey of Bishop McGuinness gets past Cameron Staten.
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Published: March 15, 2009
RALEIGH - After Bishop McGuinness polished off Weldon 72-56 for its first NCHSAA Class 1-A state basketball title, Coach Josh Thompson had a wry smile when asked about the free-throw shooting of Aaron Toomey, McGuinness' junior point guard.
"We need to clean up those two misses," Thompson said.
That was all that was left to clean up after Toomey, scoring 35 points and making 19 of 21 free-throw attempts, had scrubbed out Weldon, a strong, athletic team that was also foul prone and errant at shooting the ball yesterday at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum.
Senior Ross Diachenko added 14 points for McGuinness, which took control in the third quarter by holding Weldon to two points, but it was the baby-faced Toomey, a 6-1 wizard who took over the game.
He has done that all year," Thompson said. "All the guys here have stepped up their games, especially Aaron. He takes everyone's best shot and he and Ross get everyone's best defenders. To step to the line in a state-championship game and make 19 of 21, to handle that pressure and have that poise is amazing and a testament to him."
Eric Jones of Weldon made two free throws 14 seconds into the third quarter to give the Chargers a 36-35 lead, their first lead since the opening seconds of the game. But those would be the only points Weldon would score during the remainder of the quarter, and Toomey and the Villains started running away with the game.
Toomey set up Steve Nealen for a 3-pointer from the right wing to regain the lead, Zach Toomey scored inside, and Diachenko drained a 3-pointer with four minutes left for a 43-36 lead. Aaron Toomey hit a 3 with a minute left, and Zach Toomey scored off an inbounds play in the final seconds for a 50-36 lead.
The fourth quarter was academic, especially after Nealen opened it with his third 3-pointer, to push the lead to 17. Aaron Toomey spent the final quarter directing traffic and drawing fouls, and Weldon kept on fouling him.
Aaron Toomey made 12 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter before being pulled from the game with 1:24 left, long enough to shed a couple of tears of happiness and collect himself before he collected the game's MVP award.
Aaron Toomey's 35 points were the fifth-most ever scored in an NCHSAA state final, and came as he collected the bruises from Weldon's physical style of play, obviously aimed at intimidation.
"Teams have been doing that to me all year trying to rattle me," Toomey said. "I try to keep my head and not worry about what the other team is doing to me.
"I felt like coming in we were confident and playing the best we have played all year. I woke up this morning and had a good feeling about it. It's a dream come true. At the beginning of the season we knew we had talent and knew we had to work as hard as we could to get to where we are now and it's great."
McGuinness built a 17-13 lead and was in the double-bonus by the end of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Toomey sank two free throws, then drilled a 3-pointer with 6:36 left, and Diachenko added a free throw as the Villains went ahead 23-13.
But Weldon, which made 10 of 34 shots from the floor and shot 29-percent in the first half, finally started connecting from long distance. Cameron Staten, Desmond Faulcon and Ramone Peterson each sank 3-pointers as Weldon cut the lead to 31-28. Willis McGee hit a follow shot to beat the halftime buzzer and pare McGuinness' lead to 35-34.
Toomey had 18 points in the first half, when he made 5 of 8 shots from the floor and all seven of his free-throw attempts.
The Villains shot 48-percent from the floor to Weldon's 28.6 percent. The third quarter battle, which McGuinness won 15-2, as well as the poor shooting spelled the end for the Chargers.
"I thought Bishop McGuinness did a good job," Coach Donnell Handsome of Weldon said. "We just got out of synch in the third quarter and just couldn't score and I thought they did a good job with their free throws. We just didn't shoot the ball well at all. Got out of synch with our offense."
The Villains settled in on a 1-2-2 zone in the first quarter and rode it out for most of the way.
"We weren't sure if we could keep them out of the paint," Thompson said of his decision to go to the zone. "I wanted to keep them out of the paint and force some jump shots, and to their credit they made some (in the second quarter). We were lucky to get a few stops early (in the third quarter) with our man-to-man. We stayed man-to-man, and we got some confidence when we could contest some shots.
"The difference in the game was the third quarter. I think we held them to two points, and we defended and rebounded much better in the second half. We got better as the game went on."
Diachenko, a 6-3 senior and Aaron Toomey's co-pilot in guided the Villains to the title, said that Weldon wasn't any more physical than other playoff teams the Villains played.
"The past few games, they haven't called nearly as many fouls," Diachenko, who was 9 of 12 from the foul line, said. "Today they called about everything which was a big advantage to us because of our free-throw shooting."
McGuinness 17 18 15 22 -- 72
Weldon 13 21 2 20 -- 56
McGuinness (31-2): Toomey 35, Nealen 9, Diachenko 14, Z. Toomey 4, McSwain 3, Patty 2, Fitzgerald 2
Weldon (26-2): Staton 11, Pulley 2, Desmond Faulcon 10, McGee 4, Jones 6, Demond Fauilcon 6, Mitchem 1, Willis McGee 5, Peterson 8, Kendall 2, Epps 1
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