Dziagwa's hot hand sparks Crusaders

By BRYAN BURNS
Published January 7, 2006

TAMPA - Tampa Catholic junior Matt Dziagwa never met a shot he didn't like.

That was especially evident against rival Jesuit on Friday. Dziagwa took 19 shots from the field, making seven (including 5-of-11 from 3-point range and 11-of-11 from the free-throw line), and dropped in a game-high 30 points in leading the Crusaders to a 74-60 victory at Jesuit.

"I have the green light unless I miss about 100," Dziagwa said. "Then I get the yellow light.

"I felt like I was on, so I was shooting a lot."

Tampa Catholic (9-6) shot 27 3s as a team, making 13. Dickie de Lama hit four, including two consecutive with just over a minute left in the third quarter to give the Crusaders a 53-47 lead, which they never relinquished. Junior guard E.J. Ciaccio also made three of his five 3-point attempts.

"I give all of our kids the green light," said Tampa Catholic coach Don Dziagwa, who is Matt's father. "We told them we don't care how many go in; we just want them to shoot.

"We give them free will. We've never yanked a kid for taking a bad 3."

Jesuit (10-4) led 37-33 at halftime but struggled on offense the rest of the game. Tigers center Tommy Wyher dominated inside in the second and third quarters, scoring 14 points and 17 overall. But he picked up his fourth foul with 7:16 in the fourth and sat out for much of the quarter, eventually fouling out with 3:27 to go.

"I think that was big," Don Dziagwa said. "I think it affected some of their other players as well."

The Crusaders held Jesuit to just 11 points in the fourth quarter. They put the game out of reach when Dziagwa and Ciaccio hit back-to-back 3s with just over two minutes left to go up 13.

Jesuit shot just 38 percent (24-for-63) from the field and made only 5-of-19 (26 percent) from 3-point range. Thomas Kaiser, who came into the game averaging 20 points a game, was held to 13 points and struggled to find his shooting touch.

Tampa Catholic's de Lama finished with 18 points and Ciaccio added 15. Pat Rice pumped in 14 for the Tigers.

[Last modified January 7, 2006, 01:22:58]