St. Francis stuns top seed

St. Francis' senior leadership and tight defense helped pull out an improbable 39-36 victory at the Class 3A Wheaton Academy regional final Friday night in West Chicago.

Orr (21-5) jumped out to an early 5-0 lead against St. Francis behind two Marquise Pryor dunks. One of the Chicago Public League's best teams showed early why it was the sectional's top seed, as Orr showed both its size and athleticism.

"When they jumped out 5-0, it was very critical to stay close because you have to have confidence that you can play with a team like them," St. Francis coach Bob Ward said. "We played Bogan, De La Salle and St. Viator and we took a couple shots from them, but we fought back in those games and it was a good experience for us for a game like tonight."

No. 8 seed St. Francis (19-7) didn't score until 4:20 remained in the opening quarter, but it battled and trailed by only four after the first quarter concluded. St. Francis then opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run before Orr countered with a run of its own.

Orr went on a 10-2 run to end the half, deflating the raucous crowd by taking a 26-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.

St. Francis came out rejuvenated in the second half, playing tight defense while also receiving a spark from guard Brian Spahn. The senior had 7 third-quarter points as St. Francis drew even at 32-32 after three quarters.

"Spahn has really been a defensive guy for us, and he doesn't shoot a lot, but when he does he has a high percentage," Ward said.

Paired with Spahn's spark was the yeoman-like effort from St. Francis senior Ryan Coyle. Coyle led all scorers with 13 points.

"We knew they were a big, athletic team, so we had to make good close-outs and box them out the best we could," Coyle said.

Points were at a premium in the fourth quarter as Orr led 36-34 with 1:48 remaining, setting up an epic finish.

Coyle went down with an ankle injury with 3:17 to go in the fourth quarter. After a quick tape job and a St. Francis timeout, Coyle re-entered the game and calmly hit a highly contested 3-pointer to give St. Francis a 37-36 lead with 1:20 remaining.

"The adrenaline took over and my teammates picked me up and it was a great team effort," Coyle said.

"Our kids were real tough, and Coyle was a warrior tonight," Ward said. "We got every tough rebound in the second half, which was a major concern for us."

Orr missed two 3-pointers in the final minute, and Spahn grabbed a rebound, was fouled and hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to ice the game with three seconds left, sending the pro-St. Francis crowd into a frenzy.

St. Francis held the explosive Orr squad to a mere 10 second-half points, which paved the way for the late-game heroics.

"Coach gave us a great game plan," Spahn said. "Donati and I were supposed to stay close to their shooters, and when they crossed we switched and tried to deny them, and it worked."

Orr missed a desperation half-court heave as time expired, giving St. Francis and first-year coach Ward a regional crown.

"We've had really good senior leadership since Day One, and they kind of showed me the ropes a little bit," Ward said. "It's been an organized, disciplined program for awhile, so it wasn't a major transition. It would be easy for them, as seniors, to kind of do what they've been doing, but they never, never acted that way and they've bought into everything we tried to do."

St. Francis advances to the Glenbard South sectional semifinals on Tuesday to take on No. 5 Crane.