St. Francis JV team defeats St. Mary's in playoffs

Junior Varsity
St. Francis 49
St. Mary’s 41
The St. Francis JV basketball team moved on to the semi-finals of the Regional CYO Playoffs with an impressive 49 to 41 win over St. Mary Magdalen’s.
The game started slow for the ninth- and 10th-grade Bruins as they fell behind by a score of 8 to 2 coming out of the gate.
It was then that, according to Coach Milt Hedrick, incredibly talented point guard Kevin George “got started.” Besides leading the green and gold offensive attack with 13 points and seven assists, George hit two key free throws to seal the win.
Speaking of free throws, SFA struggled mightily overall at the charity stripe, with George's being the only two foul shots converted for the game. Coach Hedrick commented that his team’s struggles at the foul line made this a much closer game than it should have been.
Ben Clausen had a nice game with 12 points and Dan Dickinson tallied eight. Kevin McKnight had six, while Andrew Peranteau, Colin Ringwalt and Joe Travagline each had two to round out the scoring.
The overall record for this fine squad now stands at 17 and 2, with a semi-final match-up with St. Pius slated for Sunday evening, Feb. 12, at home.
Varsity
Notre Dame 55
St. Francis 52
To say this was a star-crossed season for the St. Francis Varsity would be putting it mildly. These 11th- and 12th-graders have worn the SFA green and gold for a long time now, and there can be no doubt about the talent and b-ball potential for this group of kids.
Oftentimes it was crystal clear during the season, sometimes it was a mystery. But their heart and talent could never be doubted, and those qualities clearly showed in the regional CYO Playoffs.
In their last game of the season, and the last game ever for the seniors, the Varsity Bruins fell to Notre Dame in overtime.
Coach Hedrick was nearly at a loss for words following a very tough season. Down by two with 13 seconds left in OT, Matt Reichert calmly sank two free-throws to tie the game. As any basketball fan can attest, 13 seconds can sometimes feel like an eternity at the end of a game. Suffice it to say, this was 13 seconds of strange calls and “second chances” for the Fighting Irish.
After several trips to the free throw line, several Irish foul shots were converted, and the Bruins never truly got a chance to re-tie the game, falling short by a final score of 55 to 52.
Eric Pollock, Reichert and Jeff Peranteau were sensational for SFA in this game, netting 22 and 15 and 14 points respectively against a very tall and talented opponent.
The amazingly athletic Pollock also skied for 14 rebounds to go with his 22 points. Mike Dougherty and Nick Santana kicked in with two each. John Oakley also played tough for SFA in this game.
With this tough loss, the Bruins ended their season with an overall mark of 13 wins and 6 losses.