Wheaton Academy pulls away from St. Francis

For three quarters St. Francis stood up to Wheaton Academy’s larger, more athletic squad.

The Warriors eventually pulled away for a 54-40 Suburban Christian Conference crossover victory Friday night in Wheaton.

Backed by a rowdy student cheering section, St. Francis chipped away at Wheaton Academy’s swarming 2-3 zone, entering the last eight minutes of play down just 28-25. All it took was two quick 3-point shots by Lars Olson on the first two possessions of the fourth quarter to start the avalanche that buried the Spartans.

At 34-25 with 7:03 left to go, the Spartans were in a tough spot.

“I just kinda stepped into it and was ready to shoot and Lord willing, it went in,” Olson said.

After scoring only 28 points through three quarters — 16 of them coming from Luke Johnson — the Warriors exploded for 26 more in the fourth.

“Once Olson hit those 3s, we had to extend our defense a little bit more,” Spartans coach Shawn Healy said. “Factor that in with being down 5, 6 points and you’re trying to make something happen, you’re trying to get a steal so you’re extending your defense and thus giving (Johnson) much more room to work with.”

Johnson turned in another standout performance for Wheaton Academy (16-1). The 6-foot-9 senior finished with 24 points and 4 blocks, hardly missing a shot along the way. Warriors coach Paul Ferguson had high praise for Johnson.

“Luke’s a big part of what we do,” Ferguson said. “We ask a lot of him with his shot blocking, his rebounding, his post play, and the great thing about him is he’s a really unselfish player.”

For St. Francis (8-8), it was a tough loss to swallow, knowing what could have been. Even Ferguson couldn’t help but acknowledge that the absence of the Spartans’ Ryan Coyle due to illness made the game easier for the Warriors.

“Honestly, not having Coyle, that hurts, but we’re not using that as a crutch,” Healy said. “I think with what we threw out there tonight, we had the ability to beat them, we just didn’t. They beat us.”

Healy believes Wheaton Academy is a quality team, one that could go deep into the postseason.

“That’s a sectional team right there,” he said. “They’re good enough to win a sectional, and we went toe-to-toe with them.”