Complete-game effort lifts St. Edward
The 48th boys basketball game P.J. White coached at St. Edward may eventually be remembered as a program turning point.
Facing a quality nonconference opponent in visiting Northridge Prep (13-5), White’s Green Wave played their most complete game under his watch in a 60-45 signature victory Wednesday.
St. Edward (9-11) shot 59 percent from the field overall (26 of 44) and 6 of 6 from 3-point range. The Wave committed only 5 turnovers, held the Knights to 15 first-half points, won the rebounding battle 23-17 and shared the basketball throughout, as evidenced by 11 assists on 26 field goals.
“This is the best win in my two years that we’ve had here,” White said. “That was a good quality opponent and we played well the whole game. We’ve played very well against some very good opponents, but we’ve still lost. This was a very good opponent and we played well and won. That makes you feel good. It makes the team feel good.”
The Knights opened the game in zone defense, but senior Eddie O’Halloran made them pay by hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to stake the Green Wave to a 12-7 lead.
Northridge Prep switched to a box-and-one defense with a chaser shadowing O’Halloran, but others stepped up to foil the strategy throughout the second quarter. Junior Antonio Domel sank a pair of 3-pointers and junior Alex Lobo came off the bench to score a pair of baskets to keep St. Edward safely ahead at halftime, 26-15.
Northridge Prep was still within 11 points late in the third quarter until the Green Wave launched a game-deciding 11-0 run. O’Halloran (game-high 15 points) opened the surge with a layup, fed by a Troy Gudino assist. Domel then stole the ball on the perimeter and raced for a breakaway layup just ahead of the third-quarter buzzer.
“It was all heart, honestly,” Gudino said of the one-sided win. “We knew they could of been our quality, but we out-hustled them in every aspect of the game. We outrebounded them, had more assists, less turnovers. Just more heart in general.”
An alley-oop pass from O’Halloran to Adrian Ponce for a layup opened the fourth quarter, and Ponce (12 points) followed with a tip-in on the next possession. O’Halloran capped the 11-0 run with a 3-pointer, giving the Green Wave their largest lead, 49-27.
“It felt like the rim was huge,” said O’Halloran, who upped his 3-point shooting percentage from 33 to 36 percent (32 of 89). “We were all hitting everything and having fun out there. Everyone was giving each other assists. It was a great team win.”
“There were no mental mistakes either,” added Domel, who scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. “Our heads were in the game and we were physically in the game, too.”
Ponce finished off the Knights by sinking 4 of 6 shots he attempted in the fourth quarter.
“We were just feeling it,” Ponce said. “We just kept passing the ball to whoever was hot. By far this was our best game.”
Doug Johnson finished with 7 points and 3 rebounds, while Gudino and Zack McQueen each added 6 points for St. Edward, which resumes Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division play Friday against visiting Walther Lutheran at 7:30 p.m.