Glover scores 25 to pace Waite
12/20/2008Brandon Focht uncorked St. Francis de Sales' 21st 3-point shot of the game Friday night.
Focht had no choice - his Knights were trailing by three and the clock was running out - and his attempt banged off the rim and fell away.
Had Focht's deep jumper gone in, St. Francis would've at least temporarily staved off a 55-52 City League home loss to Waite.
The Indians earned their road victory primarily on the strength of Darius Glovers's
career-high 25 points.
Waite went on an 8-0 run to regain a lead it had held for most of the night. And with 38.9 seconds left and the game tied at 50, the David Butte drained a critical 3 that broke the tie for good.
"We talked at halftime about David drifting to halfcourt and then coming up to the top of the key on the inbounds," Waite coach Dave Pitsenbarger said. "We thought he might be open. He was and that time and he hit it."
Glover was especially dominant in the first half, tallying 16 points to direct Waite to a 27-25 halftime advantage.
Glover, a gifted player
capable of creating his own shot and driving to the basket, also nailed three shots from beyond the arc.
"My outside shot was the difference," Glover said. "I'm not a good outside shooter, but when I'm hitting those it shows I have more faith in my outside shot and it opens up everything else."
Glover hit one of two free throws to extend Waite's fourth-quarter lead to 54-50, and
Anthony Perrin made one with 7.1 seconds left to push the margin back to three points.
After a timeout, St. Francis quickly maneuvered through the Indians' full-court pressure and set up Focht for a clean look.
"We talked about possibly fouling them in the backcourt, but to back away once they got to the front court," Pitsenbarger said. "We were willing to send them to the foul line, but not with a chance to send the game into overtime. They ran a great play and it nearly worked to perfection."
When Focht's shot missed, Waite improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play.
"People have been underestimating us," said Glover, a senior and the Indians' leading scorer this year. "I've been telling my guys every day in practice that we're here to make a statement."
St. Francis coach Nick Lowe pointed not to Focht's miss to explain the defeat, but to the 17 other 3-pointers his team missed instead of feeding the ball into the post where the Knights enjoyed an advantage.
"We became perimeter oriented," Lowe said afterwards. "We were 3-for-21 from the
3-point line and we have a
6-foot-11 kid.
"It's just frustrating."
The tallest player out there, St. Francis' Storm Stanley, finished with 13 points and was effective when his teammates fed him early in the possession. The Knights (1-2, 1-1) also received solid inside play from Jake Szenderski (17 points, eight rebounds) and Brody Henry (10 points, eight rebounds) and won the battle of the boards 47-34.
Henry's layup early in the fourth quarter earned St. Francis a 45-40 lead, but the Knights gave it back by missing 3s and committing turnovers.
Contact Joe Vardon at:
jvardon@theblade.com
or 419-410-5055.