Springfield CYO basketball finishes season

SFA Junior Varsity
Semi-Finals
Regional Championships
SFA 47, St. Pius 45
The SFA JV moved on to the finals of the Regional CYO Playoffs with a hard-fought win over St. Pius. The Bruins led for most of this close game, falling behind by a single point in the third quarter.
With what has been an outstanding season sitting there on the brink, this tough team came through down the stretch against a talented, high-quality opponent. Defense was the name of the game for the green and gold in this contest, as they held St Pius at bay most of the night, especially when it counted.
Ben Clausen led the charge with 18 points, seven of which came with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. He was assisted nicely by Kevin George who chipped in with 11, and Dan Dickinson with nine.
Finals
(Game 1 of Best of 3)
SFA 62, Holy Cross 61
How many times has it come down to this? St. Francis against cross-town rival Holy Cross for all the marbles. St. Francis won game One of a best-of-three series for the regional CYO JV title in a double-overtime nail-biter, 62- 61. This was simply one of those games that neither team deserved to lose.
Kevin McKnight sent the game into OT by hitting two clutch free throws at the end of regulation. Then Kevin George was the overtime hero for the green and gold, hitting a clutch three pointer in the second OT that proved to be the difference in the game.
Coach Milt Hedrick could only say that his “guys were unreal” in this exciting contest, coming up time and time again to secure the win.
Dan Dickinson led the SFA scoring with 22 points, followed by Kevin George with 15, Kevin McKnight with 12 and Ben Clausen with nine. Andrew Peranteau and Colin Ringwalt each had two.
Finals
(Game 2 of Best of 3)
SFA 49, Holy Cross 45
Every now and then a player steps up and just “refuses to lose” and helps his team to a key win or a championship. Such was the case for SFA in the JV Championship, and that player was their sensational point guard Kevin George. With the entire season on the line, this talented young man did all that he could, controlling the tempo and the game and filling the nets with 27 points in the process. Coach Milt Hedrick described him as a pit bull on the court – relentless and focused, a leader in every way. He went on to note that this fine young man may have sank the final two free throws of the game with a broken hand, an injury he sustained driving to the hoop on that final play. Undaunted, he sank both free throws like a pro.
The Bruins took their first lead in the third quarter with two starters on the bench in foul trouble. Colin Ringwalt and Joe Travagline came through at that key time in the game. Besides George’s 27, other key scoring for SFA came from Ben Clausen with 13, Kevin McKnight with six and Dan Dickinson with three. Andrew Peranteau chipped in with four steals. Other players for St. Francis in this championship season included Luke Reichert, Chris Scarduzzo and Anthony Swink.
SFA finished the season with an overall record of 20-2. Both regular season losses came at the hands of previously unbeaten Holy Cross, both by a point – a clear indication of just how close in talent these two fine young teams happened to be.