There had been few moments, if any, this season that star point guard Josh Roseboro wasn’t on the court for Burke.
But Wednesday, the Bulldogs had to navigate the second half of the Division 3 state semifinal against St. Mary’s of Lynn without Roseboro, who suffered a game-ending knee injury on a drive late in the second quarter.
Burke displayed its resiliency with Roseboro absent, turning in a gutsy performance to edge the Spartans, 50-47, at the TD Garden and advance to the program’s first state final Saturday, where it will face the winner of Sutton and Sabis.
“There was some doubt in the locker room looking at my team’s faces,” said Burke coach Sean Ryan. “Josh is A to Z. He’s our leader. He’s your point guard. He’s your captain. He’s arguably our most valuable player and when he goes down — the kid who they rely on to make big plays — it just shows the perseverance of all these other kids to step up.”
Roseboro’s injury was part of a calamitous second quarter for Burke (18-7), which squandered a 13-point lead as St. Mary’s (23-3) outscored the Bulldogs 20-4 in the stanza to take a 32-27 halftime advantage.
But Burke buckled down defensively, using its superior length and receiving six blocks from Pedro St. Fleur to hold the Spartans to 15 second-half points.
“We had great focus on defense,” said Juwan Dawes, who came off the bench to net a game-high 13 points. “Offense is going to come. Defense wins game. Offense just sells tickets.”
Burke used an 11-2 run to get back in front midway through the third quarter, but a 3-pointer from David Brown Jr. put St. Mary’s ahead 19 seconds into the final frame.
Burke then made its biggest plays without Roseboro, who plans to play in the state final, as Michael Celestin (11 points) hit a trey before Jamari Foy (12 points) broke a 45-all deadlock with 1:48 remaining with a crafty reverse layup and Dawes sank a baseline jumper for a 49-45 lead with 30 seconds left.
St. Mary’s had a chance to send the game to overtime, but its desperation 3-pointer as time expired was off the mark.
“I just understood we had to step up,” Foy said. “We just played as hard as we could.”