LOWELL, Mass. — As Georgetown trudged through an early-season schedule that included some inconsistent play – including a stretch when it lost three of four games in late January – its players recognized that it needed to form an identity. The Royals drew a line in the sand and decided it was going to start on defense.
“We were kind of in that middle ground where it was like, ‘What can we do, why aren’t we winning these games that we should be winning?’” junior guard Brendan Loewen said. “(We said), we are going to be the best defensive team in the state. …
“We built that defensive wall that we really needed to have success in this tournament. Everyone bought in.”
On Saturday, that defensive commitment came to fruition on the biggest stage. The Royals dug in to allow just seven points in the fourth quarter, an effort that was rewarded with a 61-54 victory over Monument Mountain to win the Division 4 state championship. It’s Georgetown’s first state title in program history.
The sixth-seeded Royals (19-6) won 12 of their final 13 games to claim the championship, including a heart-pounding 69-66 victory over No. 2 Bourne in the semifinals. In that one, Georgetown scored its final nine points on free throws to secure the win. On Saturday, it was Loewen’s turn to see out the championship. He scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a tough bucket that put the Royals up three with two minutes to go before he sank four free throws in the final minute to seal it.
“Brendan, he’s the backbone of our team,” Georgetown head coach Josh Keilty said. “He’s just so tough physically and mentally, he’s the best competitor I’ve ever been around. He just refuses to lose. There’s no one else we’d rather have on the line at that time than Brendan.”
Georgetown led by 13 at halftime after Irvin Zapata (22 points) knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half, and the Royals gave up just six points in the second quarter. They led by 14 early in the second half before Monument Mountain – led by Isaiah Keefner, Manny Brown, Dom Caulutti and Griffin McElroy – went on a 17-2 run to take a 43-42 lead. But Georgetown stayed poised. Zapata responded with his seventh triple to retake the lead. The Royals didn’t trail again.
“We kind of knew they were going to come back,” Keilty said. “It’s the state championship game, it’s a really good team, really talented, they weren’t going to quit. I mean, 13 points isn’t that much of a lead anyway. We were ready for that. I was just really proud of the way the guys played one possession at a time, dug in, got stops when we needed to and hit the big free throws.”
Brown led the fifth-seeded Spartans (22-3) with 18 points, while Caulutti had 11 and McElroy chipped in 10. Monument Mountain was appearing in its first state championship game.
Loewen had a hard time finding the words to describe the feeling of winning a state championship.
“Even throughout the week, after we beat Bourne in the semifinals, I could not believe we were in the state finals,” Loewen said. “It didn’t seem real. To go into battle every single day with all these warriors in this locker room, 15 of us, all going out to set the same goal, it means the world.”
