By Mike Morton
With Louisville and Syracuse winning in the Elite Eight, two players from Queens will be featured in the Final Four next weekend.
Archbishop Molloy guard Russ Smith scored a game high 23 points for No. 1-seeded Louisville Sunday night, while leading the Cardinals to an 85-63 victory over No. 2 Duke. It will be the second straight Final Four for the junior guard.
“It’s so hard to get here, and it’s really no comparison,” Smith said. “This year is definitely special.”
Sunday’s game was especially difficult for Smith after witnessing a gruesome injury to teammate Kevin Ware, whose lower right leg snapped and broke through the skin after he attempted to block a shot in the first half. The image of his fallen teammate was a tough one for Smith to overcome.
“When he landed, I heard it. I’d heard it, and then I’d seen what happened come out, and I immediately just — just like fell,” he said. “And I almost didn’t feel nothing, and it was, it was really hard for me to pull myself together, because I didn’t ever think in a million years I would see something like that. And that happened, especially, to a guy like Kevin Ware, I was completely devastated.”
Going into the half with a 35-32 lead, Smith said it was clear what the Cardinals had to do in the second half: win for Ware.
“Don’t lose this game for Kevin Ware,” Smith said of the halftime locker room talk. “That was the main — that was the summary. That’s it, really.”
Top-seeded Louisville will take on this year’s Cinderella, No. 9 Wichita State, in the Final Four Saturday at 6:09 p.m. at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Southerland powers Cuse in semifinals: Benjamin Cardozo alumnus James Southerland led No. 4-seeded Syracuse past No. 3 Marquette 55-39.
The senior forward led the Orange in scoring with 16 points. None of those shots were bigger than a three-pointer that came with 2:23 left in the game to give the Orange a 50-36 lead. Southerland knew the shot was going in from the moment it left his fingertips.
“Every shot I take feels good, so I don’t think anything’s going to miss,” he said.
The Orange will play No. 4 Michigan April 6 at 8:49 p.m. at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Molloy alumnus Larranaga, Miami fall in Sweet 16: Miami Coach Jim Larranaga, a former player at Molloy, saw his No. 2-seeded Hurricanes fall 71-61 to Marquette March 28. Miami, despite the loss won the ACC regular season and post-season titles in Larranaga’s second season at the helm.
CK’s Smith, Louisville upset top-seeded Baylor: Former Christ the King guard Bria Smith scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Cardinals knock off defending champion Baylor and Brittney Griner 82-81 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Sunday.
