St. Monica Academy boys’ basketball stymied by late Mesrobian surge
St. Monica Academy’s Peter Ford gets off a jump shot during Wednesday’s nonleague game.
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Pasadena — Recently, the St. Monica Academy boys’ basketball team has been in its share of close games.
The Crusaders have had mixed results.
Coach Peter Grimm and the Crusaders looked to swing things in their favor when they met visiting Mesrobian in a nonleague contest Wednesday night.
Unfortunately for St. Monica, things didn’t work out, as Mesrobian broke open a tight game in the final five minutes to hand St. Monica a 63-49 loss at New Revelation Baptist Church.
“We’ve had a lot of close games and we’re a young team,” said Grimm, whose team has had five games decided by six points or less. “We’re done with that excuse now.
“It’s been a case where we’ve made mistakes down the stretch and that’s what happened again tonight. I want to give Mesrobian credit for the way they shot the ball, especially at the free-throw line .They have an improved team. We need to keep improving.”
Jerome Grimm brought the Crusaders to within 43-42 with 5:23 to go on a layup and St. Monica appeared to be gaining traction.
But the Crusaders (5-11) then saw the Bulldogs (5-3) close out the game on an 18-7 run. Mesrobian made 12 free throws in the final five minutes to hand St. Monica its third consecutive defeat.
Mesrobian received a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds from Arman Safeyan, including 23 in the second half.
A crucial moment in the fourth came with 1:53 remaining and Mesrobian holding a 50-46 lead. Mesrobian’s Jonathan Cinquegrani was fouled on a three-point attempt from the right side. He converted on all three shots to extend the lead to 53-46.
“It’s things like that,” Peter Grimm said. “That was definitely a key play and they made their shots.
“We did do some things well, but there are areas we need to keep working at.”
Jerome Grimm said the Crusaders couldn’t regroup following Mesrobian’s surge.
“We’ve been breaking down on defense in some of our games and it happened again,” said Grimm, who finished with a team-high 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. “We need to communicate better and it always comes down to being able to execute in the close games.”
St. Monica held a 23-22 halftime lead. A basket by Grimm game the Crusaders a 20-18 lead with 1:40 to go in the first half.
St. Monica, which advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs last season, got 12 points apiece from Peter Ford and Freddy Sayegh.
Levon Hovanesian contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds for Mesrobian.
St. Monica lost starting forward Jacob Lessard midway through the first quarter after he suffered a cut near his right eye and nose after battling for a loose ball. He did not return.
