St. Edward steals one from Westminster
Antonio Domel has quick hands to deflect or steal passes. He also has plenty of speed to get from one side of the court to the other.
That makes him a perfect guy to play at the top of a 1-2-2 three-quarter court trap.
The St. Edward junior had 4 second-half steals Friday night and the Green Wave's boys basketball team forced Westminster Christian into 14 second-half turnovers to rally past the Warriors, 40-29, in pool-play action at the 5th annual Westminster Christian Thanksgiving Tournament.
"I'm good at that kind of stuff," Domel said. "I know I have guys behind me to back me up if I do something wrong or let someone get by."
The victory sent the Green Wave (3-0) into the championship game against Immaculate Conception at 7 p.m. today. Westminster (1-2) will play Mooseheart at 3:45 p.m. today in the fifth-place game.
The Warriors led throughout the first half Friday. They went on a 7-0 run all from Sam Carani after St. Edward tied the game at 8-8 to take a 15-8 lead with 5:30 left in the first half. The Warriors lead was 8, 21-13, with 2:07 remaining in the second quarter, but St. Edward scored the final 6 points of the quarter and trailed 21-19 at halftime.
Domel had a steal and layup with 6:16 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 21-21. Colin Brandon and Tim Rodgers had back-to-back baskets to give Westminster a 25-21 lead.
Zack McQueen had a 3-point play as the Green Wave got back within 1, 25-24. Another steal and layup from Domel gave St. Edward its first lead of the game at 26-25. The Green Wave never trailed again.
"The press kind of gave us a little more energy," Green Wave coach P.J. White said.
St. Edward led 30-26 heading into the fourth thanks to forcing the Warriors into 8 third-quarter turnovers. A layup from Adrian Ponce with 7:09 left in the fourth capped a 13-2 run and gave the Green Wave a 34-27 lead.
Rodgers scored with 6:45 remaining to make it a 5-point game, 34-29, but the Warriors would not score again. They had just 3 second-half field goals and scored just 8 points after halftime. In total, they turned the ball over 25 times.
Carani led Westminster with 7 points. Rodgers and Will Woodhouse each had 6.
"It's hard to win games when you turn the ball over more than you get shots (as Westminster did in second half)," Warriors coach Bruce Firchau said. "I'm not pleased with that at all."
Domel led the Green Wave with 11 points. Ponce had 10 points, 9 in the second half, and 5 rebounds. Eddie O'Halloran had 7 points. McQueen finished with 6 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.
"We're getting a lot of Antonio for what he can give us," White said. "But were not trying to look at one guy. Each game it has been a different guy. It would be nice if we could get that to be three or four guys."