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Prep Takes Fairfield Tournament in Thriller

The final of the 2010 Fairfield Holiday Classic will be remembered for the duel between Fairfield Prep junior Terry Tarpey and Notre Dame-Fairfield sophomore Dan Upchurch.

In the battle of undefeated teams, Tarpey hit a pull-up jumper to give the Jesuits a one-point lead. On Prep’s next possession, he hit one of two free throws to extend the lead. Trailing 60-58 with six seconds to play, Upchurch raced down the court and put up up a shot three feet from the three-point arc. It sailed a bit too far left and the Prep fans in the near-capacity crowd at Alumni Hall at Fairfield University exploded.

"I was just praying that shot didn't go in," Tarpey said with a grin. "This is the biggest game of the year for us. We have a lot of guys who have been going to this tournament for years and now we get to play in it. It means a lot to win."

Tarpey, whose dad played professional basketball in France for 10 years, was named tournament MVP. Upchurch was named to the all-tournament team.

The Jesuits found themselves in a situation similar to their game on Tuesday, trailing their opponent by a wide margin at halftime. Prep stormed back to tie the game in the final seconds of the third quarter, just as it  had done earlier in the week against Fairfield Ludlowe. Dan Bier was the hero in that comeback, and this time Tarpey went absolutely bonkers, scoring 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half.

Upchurch came up with clutch shots all night as he tied the game or put his team briefly ahead four times, finishing the night with 16 points.

"I think we like the fourth quarter," Prep head coach Leo Redgate said. "I think the guys know they're stronger at the end of games. And if we keep getting stronger, we're going to be a tough team to beat.

Fairfield Prep remains undefeated at 6-0, while Notre Dame falls to 4-1.

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