Flair for the dramatic: Saints pull out another squeaker
Published 5:00 pm Saturday, February 13, 2021
- Photo Credit
Rodrick Anderson
Living on the edge is starting to pay off for St. Louis Catholic.
St. Louis trailed by 10 points late in the third quarter Friday night at Burton Coliseum, but rallied in the fourth to beat Iowa 61-56.
It was the second consecutive win by five points or fewer for the Saints and the seventh consecutive game decided by five points or fewer.
“When you play so many close games, eventually I think that the kids will start executing and start making free throws down the stretch and that is what we saw tonight,” St. Louis head coach Mack Guillory said. “We are getting better each game. Hats off to our kids. It has been tough.
“We have played a lot of close games and for them stick in and fight and be able to come out with a win, I am very proud of them tonight.”
St. Louis made 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:15 of the game from four players — Terry Sherman Nic Ughovwa, Mika Ducote and Bryson Hardy.
The Saints (13-10, 4-3) also got a boost from Trey Tate late it the game.
“I will be honest, we started to scramble a little bit,” Guillory said. “We kind of pressed the panic button and decided to play a younger kid by the name of Trey Tate. He came in and gave us a very good lift defensively. He made a couple of key steals and just got our energy up. I can attribute his effort to stimulating our other guys to propel us to a win.”
With 57 seconds left in the third quarter, Iowa took a 46-36 lead on a free throw by Alex Prudhomme.
St. Louis used a 12-2 run to tie the score at 48-48 on a putback by Hardy with 5:22 left.
Iowa (13-7, 3-4) took its final lead with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws by Crajuan Bennett, who led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points. Landon Langley finished with 14 points, and Curtis Deville added 10 points.
St. Louis had four players in double figures, led by Sherman’s 19 points. Bryson Hardy scored 15 points, Karlin Hardy had 10 and Ughovwa finished with 11.
Girls
St. Louis 78
Iowa 28
St. Louis completed its third consecutive perfect run through District 4-3A in as many seasons.
The Saints (26-1, 10-0) have won 32 consecutive district games.
Point guard Paris Guillory and guard Myca Trail combined for 45 points, including 11 each in the first quarter as the Saints raced to a 24-4 lead.
Guillory had a game-high 23 points plus seven rebounds and five steals, while Trail finished with 22 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
St. Louis jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and led 55-7 at halftime.
Bailee Aaron led Iowa (8-17, 1-8) with seven points before fouling out.
Rodrick Anderson/American Press
