St. Francis win a crowd-pleaser

It was "Pack the Place" night at St. Francis on Friday, and the home fans did just that in the Spartans' 65-47 win over Montini.

A capacity crowd of deafening St. Francis fans fueled the Spartans to burst open the game on an 11-1 run and never look back.

"The atmosphere was just incredible here," senior Mike Yanan said. "The crowd is so important to me. The adrenal rush of knowing they have our back is huge."

Spartans senior Eric Stout warmed up the fans in the opening minute of the game with a 3-point field goal. Moments later junior Zach Roswold grabbed a rebound and added a putback basket to generate more hype among the crowd.

The building erupted with St. Francis energy after senior Michael Scholl knocked home a 3-pointer to make the score 8-0 and force a Montini time-out.

"Our crowd is probably the best in the area," said Spartans coach Shawn Healy. "We had about 75 percent of our students here. Our students and alumni are great. We have a great following."

Yanan finished the game with 12 points.

"I wouldn't have any points without screens from my teammates," Yanan said. "It was a group effort."

Just like he did to open the game, Stout hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second quarter and expanded the Spartans' advantage.

Stout ended the contest with a game-high 18 points.

"In the beginning of the game, our kids were revved up and feeding off the crowd," Healy said.

The Broncos crept there way back into the game shortly after Stout's 3-pointer opened the second quarter. Montini sharpshooter Jim Miller drilled a 3-point basket and forced a Spartans timeout midway through the period.

"As a team we have to improve our focus," Yanan said. "We had a big lead early and we didn't put them away."

Montini was led in scoring by John Gibbs' 14 points.

"We never give up," said Montini coach Brian Opoka. "We could have packed it in at halftime, but this year our kids battle, battle and battle."

After the Spartans jumped out to a 30-16 lead at halftime, Montini settled down and eventually outscored the Spartans in the fourth quarter.

"I think offensively we had some good spurts, but for us to be a better team we have to put it all together for four quarters," Healy said. "If we want to do some special things in February and March we have to play smarter."