Newest Millennium for Egesionu (2/20/08)

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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff GateHouse News Service Wed Feb 20, 2008, 01:23 AM EST Trinity Catholic boys basketball coach Scott Kmack had seen Uche Egesionu do it so many times before that he said that it just made sense that he do it for two of the biggest points of his career. The 6-foot-6 TC senior entered last night's game against Notre Dame of Lawrence needing 23 points for 1,000 in his career. Midway through the fourth quarter, the senior pulled down the rebound as he has so often over his three-year varsity career and converted the put-back as he's done for some of TC's most significant baskets this season. ``He had two game-winning shots for us doing that this year,'' said Kmack of the put-backs. ``It seemed fitting for him to get the 1,000th point that way.'' Egesionu finished with 27 points in the game and a two-day total of 51 in the tournament. He was named the Trinity Catholic Invitational Most Valuable Player as the Falcons finished the regular season at 18-2 with a 76-62 victory. Needing more than 400 points for 1,000 entering a season that Kmack said earlier this year ``many thought would be a rebuilding year for us,'' Egesionu has averaged more than 22 points per game and has helped lead the Falcons to one of the best campaigns in program history. ``This is not what we expected this season,'' Egesionu said last night. ``We were expecting to be 20-0, not 18-2. We decided that we were going to hold ourselves to a higher standard this year. Holding ourselves to that higher standard has helped us play better.' ``We sat down midway through the year and talked about school and where he stood for getting 1,000 points,'' Kmack recalled. ``He said: `If I get it, great. If I don't, I would rather see the team do well.' ``A thousand points is a big accomplishment,'' the coach later added, ``but even in doing that the victories were the most important thing for him.'' Egesionu's output and Trinity's triumphs went hand in hand this season as he began the year on a torrid pace. During one four-game stretch of January, he averaged 31.8 points and 17.5 rebounds per game. He had 39 points and 18 rebounds in an 81-73 victory over Matignon on Jan. 15 and had 34 points and 15 rebounds in a 64-55 victory over Lowell Catholic on Jan. 19. This was all from a player who over the first two years of his varsity career was considered more of a defensive player than an offensive force. ``It was a big jump for him this year,'' Kmack said. ``Initially, looking at the season with the amount of points he needed for a thousand based on his first two years of varsity, it looked like a stretch (to reach 1,000). His output definitely went up. He is gong to wind up with about double the points he scored last year. ``He really learned how to be a post man,'' the coach gave as a reason for the improvement. ``His finish at the basket has improved tremendously. He has a soft touch and has learned to be an offensive player around the basket.' As the points began to pile up, the attention other teams paid to Egesionu grew dramatically. ``At the beginning of the season some of the teams that had played against me last year laid off (the double teams),'' Egesionu said. ``Two years ago, and even last year, they used to have one guy guard me. But I played against an awful lot of 7-footers the past year, so it became easy for me to score against just one person.'' Egesionu said that experience of playing against bigger competition came with his time on the AAU Boston Soldiers. ``In high school, I am one of the biggest guys on the court,'' the Randolph resident said. ``In AAU, I am one of the smallest.'' But, eventually, the one-on-one play turned into double teams, then triple teams. It forced Egesionu to be smarter with the basketball and helped him improve his passing ability as well. ``He was dominant at the beginning of the season and it's hard to keep that a secret for very long,'' Kmack said. ``He got a lot of press and teams were coming in to stop him. A lot of teams collapsed on him or hit him with a Box-and-1 (defense). ``He recognized that and several games he led us with assists,'' the coach continued. ``He realized what he had to do to make our team successful. Even though his scoring went down, he did a lot to help in different ways.'' Egesionu finished with 27 points to go with 14 rebounds and four assists last night. Sophomore John Lopes had 18 points and six rebounds, senior Sterling McDowell-Ashe had nine points, senior Gregory Raye had eight points and six rebounds and senior Stephen Burckardt had eight points and five rebounds. ``His teammates knew what was at stake tonight and they were setting him up inside so that was nice as well,'' Kmack said. ``He started kind of slow tonight and then he really started playing strong on the boards and became a dominant player inside. Notre Dame was doubling and tripling him and he was still able to overpower them inside.'' The Falcons are off until beginning play in the Division 4 North draw next week. Seedings will be announced on Friday.

Senior Uche Egesionu notched his 1,000th career point during the 3rd Annual Trinity Catholic Tournament. The Falcons won the tournament with a 76-62 win over Notre Dame (Lawrence) and Egesionu was named MVP. Daily News Tribune Photo by David Burke