24°
"Get it to Terry." Every single Fairfield Prep basketball fan inside Alumni Hall at Fairfield University had to have been thinking the same thing. Junior forward Terry Tarpey had just authored his best game yet for the Jesuits on Friday evening, racking up a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds. And Tarpey was just getting started.
He scored the final six points of the Class LL state quarterfinal, culminating in an 8-foot pull-up jumper at the buzzer to beat Xavier High School. The shot lifted the Jesuits to a 61-59 victory, ended 17th-ranked Xavier's own Cinderella run and sent Fairfield Prep to its first state semifinal since 1997.
Hundreds of Prep fans cascaded over the barricade dividing the stands from the court, celebrating their team's biggest win in 14 years at center court. In the middle of the sea of red and white was Terry Tarpey, as the students chanted, "MVP! MVP! MVP!"
"It means everything in the world to make that shot. I worked so hard to get here," Tarpey said. "We all work hard as a team, and it came together on that last play."
Prep had staked out a 42-33 lead after three quarters, but Xavier stormed back to take a four-point lead with 1:29 to play. Tarpey charged down the court after two Xavier free throws cut the lead to two. Alex Heiman stole the ball from Xavier's Michael Boorazani on the next Falcons possession, finding Tarpey again for the game-tying jumper. Bier's frantic defense forced Pat D'Amato to travel and turn the ball over to Prep on the next play, setting up Tarpey's heroic finish.
"There's a lot of magic in this team," Fairfield Prep head coach Leo Redgate said. "Terry gets the press clippings, but he has helped make this whole team better. This team maybe would have folded earlier this season when Xavier went up by four. We're not backing down anymore."
The last time Fairfield Prep reached the state semifinals in 1997 was the year it won the school's second state championship. Prep will take on fifth-seeded Ridgefield on Tuesday for a shot at the finals.
Do you think Fairfield Prep can bring home the state championship? Star the discussion below!
Follow Eric Gendron on Twitter for the latest MSC sports coverage.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Fairfield and receive free news updates.
