SPRINGFIELD — Prior to the 2014-15 season, Cambridge lost teammate Davonte Neal to cancer at the age of 16, and this year’s team had dedicated its season to him.
Driven by that emotion and riding a tremendous defensive effort in the second half, Cambridge defeated St. John’s of Shrewsbury, 66-51, at the MassMutual Center on Saturday to capture the school’s first basketball championship since 2001.
“This is amazing,’’ Cambridge junior Jakigh Dottin said. “This whole season we have gone by the saying ‘Davonte Strong’ and everything we do is for Sweets. I already know he’d want to be here with us, we just do this through him.’’
Cambridge trailed by 1 point at halftime, but was bolstered in the third quarter by 6-foot-8-inch junior Dimon Carrigan, who firmly made his presence known.
Carrigan finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, and was key in tallying eight blocks, forcing St. John’s to alter shot after shot in the paint.
“Defense is my motivation,’’ Carrigan said. “I try to dominate defensively and make sure the other team scores less than us.’’
Cambridge (24-1) held a 9-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and its adjustment at halftime on St. John’s star senior shooter Adham Floyd proved to be the difference.
“We had to switch off,’’ said Cambridge coach Lance Dottin, who took his team earlier in the day to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to take a photo in front a picture of legendary Cambridge alum and former NBA star Patrick Ewing. “We knew we weren’t going to be able to stop [Floyd], but we had to contain him.’’
Floyd finished with 19 points for the Pioneers, only 4 of which came in the second half.
St. John’s (23-2) tried to make a run late in the fourth quarter off of a couple steals and layups, but the hole was too large to climb out of.
As the clock began to tick down and the reserves off from the bench made their way in, the Cambridge faithful rose to their feet and the emotion was felt throughout as the Falcons finished leaving their mark on the Cambridge basketball program.
“Now we can put ourselves in the legacy,’’ said Jakigh Dottin.
