IC runs away with St. Edward in title game
The Immaculate Conception boys basketball team wants to run.
The Knights ran Saturday night and put away St. Edward early.
IC won its second Westminster Christian Thanksgiving Tournament title in three seasons by beating the Green Wave 62-31.
"We're pretty quick, so we like to box out, get rebounds and just run from there," IC senior John Cheng said.
It took 4 minutes before the Knights (4-0) got going, leading only 3-2 midway through the first quarter. But IC scored 16 points in the final 4 minutes of the quarter, mostly coming on easy baskets in transition.
Nothing came easy for the Green Wave (3-1) in the quarter. St. Edward shot just 1-for-16 and trailed 19-4.
"They had their way with us," St. Edward coach P.J. White said. "They were much more aggressive than we were. A lot stronger than we were."
The Knights increased the lead in the second quarter behind 8 points from Cheng and 6 from Brian Harvey. They led 37-17 at halftime and 52-25 after three quarters.
IC dominated the tournament, winning its four games by an average margin of 30.8 points.
"I definitely think we were the most talented team here. It was just a matter of showing that," Knights coach Darren Howard said. "We think we can have a very nice season. We know we're going to face more difficult opponents as we move forward. But if we play with this much focus, we should be pretty successful."
Cheng finished with a game-high 16 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Harvey added 14 points and 9 rebounds. Demetrius Carr and Dan Ribando each added 8 points. Carr was named the tournament MVP. Cheng and Harvey were selected to the all-tournament team.
"We want to get the ball off the glass and outlet, and beat most teams down the floor for 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s," Howard said.
St. Edward shot just 12-for-57 (21 percent). Troy Gudino led the Green Wave with 8 points and had 6 rebounds. Adrian Ponce had 6 points. Antonio Domel and Eddie O'Halloran were named to the all-tournament team.
"We finished better than we did last year," White said of the Green Wave's second-place finish. "I think we gained some confidence because we won a few games. It wasn't what we wanted tonight obviously. I think we saw we can get open shots in our offense, but we have to make them."