St. Francis 53, Crane 46

As it became clear St. Francis had toppled another giant, the Spartans' student cheering section got giddy.

"We want Marshall!" the bouncing blue-and-white throng chanted.

They'll get Marshall.

On Tuesday No. 7 seed St. Francis beat No. 3 Crane 53-46 in a boys basketball Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield sectional semifinal.

The Spartans added Crane to No. 2 seed St. Joseph among St. Francis' favored victims, advancing to their first sectional final since 1999.

St. Francis will play reigning Chicago Public League champ Marshall, the No. 1 team in Class 3A, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Riverside.

"Let's go after the best," St. Francis coach Shawn Healy said. "We got this far, let's go after the best and see what we're made of."

Smooth as silk was how St. Francis (19-9) operated its motion offense on Tuesday.

Crane coach Anthony Longstreet, still without injured top scorer Dion Dixon, described St. Francis' secret in two words: "Executing. Executing."

It didn't happen at once. Crane (14-9) took a 10-7 first-quarter lead as St. Francis went 3 of 12 from the floor.

In the second quarter jack-of-all-trades Brian McMahon hit 2 free throws, then penetrated and passed to guard Jack Purdom for a 3-pointer and a 12-10 lead the Spartans never relinquished.

Dead-eye Dan McCoy followed with another 3, and each guard added a second 3 in the period to put St. Francis up 25-19 at halftime.

"As long as we're running we'll get back-screens for layups. And when we get layups it opens up the 3s, and when we get 3s it opens up the layups," said McCoy, who scored 18 points to 10 for McMahon. Purdom and 6-foot-6 Bob Vonderhaar scored 8 apiece and Dave Palash 7 in a balanced attack.

St. Francis led 30-21 in the third quarter before Crane forward Aaron Weaver, who tallied a game-high 20 points, led the Cougars within 32-31.

Vonderhaar's lay-in at the horn, off Palash's inbounds pass, gave the Spartans a 34-31 lead entering the fourth.

A 7-2 run spread the lead to 41-33 with 3:42 left to play, but Crane again rallied to 43-40 on Weaver's 3 at 1:53.

Vonderhaar then found McCoy all alone on the left side for a 3, his fifth, that was the dagger. Crane never came closer than 6 points the rest of the way.

"It's awesome," Palash said. "We're just pumped for Friday."

"It's just a dream come true," McMahon added. "You always see these teams and you never think about, 'Oh, you can beat them.' But I guess we did a good job of doing that."