Detroit – “The bottom line,” said U-D Jesuit coach, Pat Donnelly, “is that you have to make your shots.”

“Defense wins championships,” offered Warren DeLaSalle coach, Greg Esler.

One team’s sputtering offense up against another team’s rugged defense was the formula for DeLaSalle’s third straight CHSL A-B Boys Basketball Championship Sunday afternoon at the University of Detroit’s Calihan Hall.

“And don’t forget our four straight Central Division titles, too,” Esler said.

The final score of 59-46 disguised a horrid third quarter for both teams, who combined for 11 points.

“We hurt ourselves in that quarter,” said Donnelly. “We had our chances, but we couldn’t make our shots.”

The teams traded basket-for-basket the first 11 minutes of the game. The score was tied four times, the last at 16-16 at 4:54 of the second quarter, when the Pilots went on a 10-3 run to take a 26-19 lead into halftime.

The scoring was a team effort for both sides, eight players getting points for DLS and six for U-D Jesuit. Senior forward Connar Tava led the Pilots with six, and junior guard Cameron Fowler had seven for the Cubs.

No one expected an offensive drought when the third quarter began. Tava made a basket at the 4:02 mark for the period’s first points. Eight seconds later, 6-foot-7 senior forward Chris Jenkins hit a free throw for U-D.

Then, another dry spell until 1:09. The Pilots’ junior guard Brad Law had two baskets sandwiched around a pair by U-D’s sophomore forward Harrison Wenson to make it 32-24 going into the last quarter.

“We played great disciplined defense,” Esler said. “They weren’t able to penetrate.”

On the other bench, Donnelly said, “We had to press and speed up our game. That’s not our game.”

Unexpectedly, both offenses heated up in the fourth quarter: 27 points for DLS, 22 for U-D. The Cubs could get no closer than eight points on two occasions early in the quarter, while DLS just kept adding a point here, a point there, steadily increasing the frustration level for U-D and its lead to 14 points by the middle of the quarter and to as much as 18 points with two minutes on the clock.

“It’s a shame to see it end this way,” said Donnelly. “The kids played so hard.”

Esler said “revenge” (for two losses to the Cubs during the regular season) may have been a motivating factor for DLS, but he praised “great senior leadership” and “a great team effort.”

Law scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter. Junior center Justin Beal also had eight of his 14 total in the quarter. Tava ended up with 12 points.

Fowler with 11 and Jenkins and sophomore guard A. J. Horde with 10 each paced the Cubs offense. U-D converted only 9 of 22 free throw attempts for the game.

DeLaSALLE (17-2) – Vaughn Avecilla 1 (1) 0/0 5; Brad Law 8 0/0 16; Sterling Johnson 2 0/2 4; Jon Ngoyi 1 0/0 2; Matt Temerowski 1  1 /2 3; Connar Tava 6 1/3 13; Luigi Marinelli 1 0/0 2; Justin Beal 7 0/0 14. Total: 27 (1) 2/7 59.

U-D JESUIT (11-8) – A. J. Horde 1 (2) 2/4 10; Sheldon Clay 1 (0/2) 2; Chris Jenkins 2 (6/8) 10; Jordan Konior 0 (1) 0/0 3; Cameron Fowler 5 1/7 11; Harrison Wenson 4 0/1 8; Vaughn Caine 1 0/0 2. Total: 14 (3) 9/22 46.