St. Francis 68, Al Raby 63 (2 OT)

Shawn Healy's first words in the St. Francis postgame locker room said it best: survive and advance.

His Spartans did just that Wednesday.

St. Francis saw a 9-point lead slip away in the final two minutes of regulation in a Class 3A St. Francis regional semifinal against Al Raby at the Spyglass Athletic Center before pulling out a 68-63 win in double overtime.

No. 7 seed St. Francis (17-9) will play No. 2 St. Joseph in Friday's regional final.

"We didn't play our best game," Spartans senior Jack Purdom said, "but coach told us if we just kept getting after it we'd eventually come out with a win and end up playing Friday night."

Purdom's 3-pointer on the first possession of double overtime gave St. Francis a 59-56 lead. The Spartans made 6 of 9 free throws to hold on after going a combined 3 of 11 in the fourth quarter and first overtime.

Brian McMahon rebounded an Al Raby 3-point attempt for the tie with five seconds left.

Dan McCoy hit two 3-pointers and Purdom a 3 in a 9-0 run to give St. Francis a 37-26 lead midway through the third quarter. The margin was 52-43 with just more than two minutes left in regulation when Al Raby, a Public League Green school located in Garfield Park on Chicago's west side, mounted a furious comeback.

The Raiders scored three times off of St. Francis turnovers, with 6-foot-5 senior Anthony Harris muscling in a score with 24 seconds left to tie it at 52-52 and force overtime. Al Raby forced 10 St. Francis turnovers in the fourth quarter.

"I'm disappointed we lost," Al Raby coach Brian Banks said, "but I can't be disappointed with the kids' effort. They didn't quit."

McMahon missed two shots in the final seconds of regulation, and Al Raby (18-9) misfired on a 3-point attempt for the win at the end of the first overtime.

"I'll be honest, I think we needed the game to go into double overtime for the momentum," Healy said. "They had the momentum going into the first overtime. We had to basically persevere during that first overtime."

Harris scored 21 points and Sherman Haynes and Eric Vortes 14 each for Al Raby.

McMahon had 19 points and 12 rebounds, McCoy 17 and Purdom 13 for St. Francis. Next for the Spartans is storied St. Joseph, long a AA power in a two-class system.

"Going up against a powerhouse like St. Joseph, it's an opportunity for us," Healy said. "A good opportunity for our school and a good opportunity for our program. Funny things happen in March. That's what we're hoping for."

Wheaton Academy 52, Manley 43:ŒWheaton Academy sophomore Tim Rusthoven's 6-foot-8 frame came in all sorts of handy for the Warriors on Wednesday night in their Class 3A boys basketball regional matchup against Manley.

Not only did Rusthoven's height help him get his 25 points and 16 rebounds, it also allowed Wheaton Academy a lengthy safety valve for its press break attack, which ran fluidly all game and contributed to the Warriors' 52-43 victory at Chicago's Marshall High School.

Wheaton Academy (17-9) expected the athletic, full-court pressure it saw from Manley, and come game time the Warriors were prepared.

"Obviously, they play a little different style than we're used to, with a lot of pressure and a lot of full-court (press)," Wheaton Academy coach Paul Ferguson said. "We did a nice job of dribbling the ball up the middle, passing out to the wings … and I thought our guys played a really smart, under-control game for us.

"It helps with Timmy being 6-8 in the middle; he can alleviate a lot of the pressure and kick it up court."

Wheaton Academy headed into halftime trailing 25-22, yet turned things around immediately at the outset of the third quarter. The Warriors ran up a quick 8-0 run on Manley, wresting control of the game's momentum.

"That was huge. If we come out and go down 5 or 7 (points), with their pressure, you start pushing a little bit and you start turning it over," Ferguson said. "It took us about a half to adjust to the tempo of the game and their quickness and athleticism.

"We really didn't do anything special; we just continued to work on the things we had in preparing for this game."

Manley cut the Warriors' lead to 36-33 at the end of three quarters, but that was as close as the Wildcats would come. A Rusthoven jump shot from just outside the free-throw line gave Wheaton Academy a 41-33 lead with 6:20 remaining in the game, and his layup with 1:11 on the clock put the Warriors ahead 51-41.

"They just left the middle wide open, so I tried to get it there any way, either kick it out, or if I had it just go in or try to get it to the post," Rusthoven said of his offensive attack.

With Wednesday night's victory the Warriors earned a date tonight against Marshall, ranked No. 1 in the state.

"I'm not even sure what to expect, but I'm assuming a lot of fast, hard, good basketball," Rusthoven said. "Hopefully, we'll step up to it."

-- Matthew McClarey