Spartans' comeback stuns Warriors

Uncanny, the foreshadowing in the St. Francis pep band's halftime rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."

Spartans coach Shawn Healy imparted that exact message to his team, which trailed Wheaton Academy by 7 points with 55 seconds left.

"I told the kids, 'It's not over.' We had three timeouts left," Healy said. "We just felt like, maybe they miss a free throw here or there, we can bury a shot, and sure enough that's what happens."

At Spyglass Athletic Center in Wheaton on Saturday, sure enough, St. Francis beat the Warriors 57-56 on Larry Murison's lay-in with eight seconds left.

"We came back from 7, so we were all jacked up and ready to go," said Murison, who scored 15 points and grabbed 8 of his 11 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

"The whole crowd was going wild. It was a great atmosphere."

Wheaton Academy, up 32-23 at the half, led 56-49 on a Tim Rusthoven free throw with 55 seconds to play. St. Francis' Dave Palash hit a 3 from the right elbow with 48 seconds left and Healy called timeout.

"He said, 'Don't give up.' We kept on playing," Palash said. "Everyone believed and we got through."

The Spartans pressed, forcing a turnover. Palash drove hard and was fouled while scoring, then hit the free throw to creep within 56-55 with 25 seconds left.

Wheaton Academy (10-5) missed 2 free throws, and after St. Francis (11-6) came out of another timeout, Palash again penetrated. He rose but saw Murison alone inside. The quick pass and easy put-in gave the Spartans their first lead since 17-14 at 7:36 of the second quarter.

Wheaton Academy missed a 25-footer for the win, and Murison was there to grab the final rebound.

"It's a tough one to swallow right there," said Wheaton Academy coach Paul Ferguson. "I felt like we were in control of most of the game.

"That's the first time I've probably lost being up 7 with under a minute left. First time for everything, right?"

Palash and Murison each finished with 15 points for St. Francis, which got 12 from Clint Pierce all on 3-pointers, and 10 points from Ryan Ferguson.

Anthony Ritchie scored 15 for Wheaton Academy before fouling out with 2:36 left. Rusthoven scored a game-high 17 points with 9 rebounds and 6 blocks.

"We just got out of our rhythm," Rusthoven said. "That's what I think St. Francis is really good at, is getting people out of their groove and just being hard-nosed and just working really hard. They never give up, either."