Wheaton, IL—The varsity boys basketball team traveled five miles south Friday night to face local rival St. Francis High School in the first of the schools' two SCC meetings this season. In a packed gymnasium, the two teams played a back-and-forth game in the first quarter, with WA leading 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.
The Spartans of St. Francis started to edge their way toward a lead in the second quarter as Andrew Kimball connected on two three pointers. Kimball went on to lead the Spartans in scoring with a team-high 22 points in the game. Repeated defensive breakdowns on the Warriors' part enabled St. Francis to enter halftime with a seven-point, 29-22 lead.
St. Francis began to run away with the basketball game in the third quarter on the heels of two more three-pointers from Kimball. The Warriors managed to score just 13 points in the quarter compared to the Spartans' 22. The lead was up to 16 points, 51-35 at the conclusion of the third quarter and a St. Francis victory looked imminent.
But Wheaton Academy point guard
Collin Roy had other plans. The 6-foot-3 inch senior played, by all accounts, an exemplary fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his game-high 25 points in the final period and leading his team's defensive effort in forcing critical St. Francis turnovers. A relentless Wheaton Academy full court press made it a 5-point game with under two just two minutes to play. The Warriors then cut the lead to just 3 points before having to foul. A missed Spartan free throw made left the score at 63-60 with under a minute to play, but the team couldn't convert on the ensuing possession and was forced to foul St. Francis again. Matt Bonner made one free throw and missed his second, requiring the Warriors to make a 4-point play with 6 seconds remaining on the clock.
Collin Roy handled the ball from one end of the court to the other, attempted to draw enough contact for a foul and sunk a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but was unable to get the call, giving St. Francis the 64-63 win.
Roy led all scores with 25 points, followed by 11 points by
Gordon Behr, and a 7 point effort by
Josh Ruggles. Wheaton Academy falls to 12-5 on the season, and will need to turn things around quickly for a 7:30 PM game tomorrow night at home against Aurora Christian.
Fore more:
http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=458923
