St. John's Titans roll after halftime
3/10/2011The underdog Springfield Blue Devils, who were making their first appearance in a boys district basketball tournament in 29 years, stayed withing striking range of fourth-ranked St. John's Jesuit for three quarters Thursday night.
But the final quarter was all Titans, as St. John's (20-2) outscored the Devils 27-15 over the final eight minutes and pulled away to a 60-42 victory in a Division I district semifinal at Savage Arena.
Sophomore Marc Loving scored 10 of his game-high 17 points, and senior teammate Zach Steinmetz had 10 of his 14 in the final quarter For St. John's. Senior guard Cheatham Norrils added 13 points for the Titans.
After hitting just 6 of its 22 first-half shots (27 percent), St. John's was 16-of-22 (73 percent) in the second half.
Senior Chester McFadden topped Springfield (16-7) with 13 points, and junior Leroy Alexander added 10 for the Blue Devils.