Sports
St. Francis Outpace Glenbard South With Strong First Half
St. Francis converts several back-door layups during the first half as it runs its motion offense to perfection against Glenbard South.
St. Francis' boys basketball team ran its motion offense to perfection against visiting Glenbard South during the Spartans’ 61-44 non-conference win Tuesday night.
went man-to-man on the Spartans, who in turn, had Raider defenders bouncing off of screens and turning every which way—resulting in several easy back-door layups for St. Francis during the first half.
Two back-door plays—with Michael Scholl finding both Nick Donati and Eric Stout wide open underneath—were part of an 8-0 St. Francis run that gave the Spartans an 18-9 first-quarter lead.
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“They’ve really brought into the style of play that we have,” said St. Francis coach Shawn Healy. “When we’re running it well, it looks really good. Offensively, I thought we were running our stuff really well. We got a lot of layups off back screens.”
The Spartans built a 16-point lead by halftime (31-15) and led by as many as 19 (34-15) in the third quarter. Glenbard South shot a combined 8 for 32 through the first three quarters.
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“Our kids were really active,” Healy said. “I thought we were getting our hands on passes, we were getting deflections and we were getting turnovers. We did a good job defensively.”
St. Francis experienced a bit of a hiccup in the fourth quarter, committing 10 turnovers. But Glenbard South couldn’t get closer than 11 points.
“We’ve just got to keep our feet and stop fouling so much,” said Healy, whose team reached the .500 mark (8-8) with Tuesday’s triumph. “I don’t know how many field goals they had in the second half. I know in the third they only had two. I thought we did a good job.
“We had a little bit of a mental lapse where we weren’t taking good care of the basketball, but for the most part, all around it was a good win.”
Stout led the Spartans’ equal-opportunity offense with 18 points while Donati added 15 and Scholl 13, including three three-pointers.
On Friday night, St. Francis hosts high-powered , which is 15-1. Wheaton Academy features 6-foot-9 Luke Johnson and 6-3 guard Wes Koral—a transfer from Joliet Catholic who has a 42-inch vertical leap and had several dunks in the Warriors’ three-point win over Aurora Christian last Saturday.
The matchup between the two teams will be the first time they’ve met since last March, when St. Francis defeated Wheaton Academy in the regional semifinals (the Warriors were 24-2 at the time).
“It’s always a good rivalry game, and I know the kids are looking forward to it,” Healy said. “So we’re going to have our work cut out for us. They’re a very, very talented team.”
St. Francis 61, Glenbard South 44
Glenbard South—Harks 5 4-4 15, Despot 7 4-4 18, Berrospi 1 0-0 2, Jeske 1 1-2 3, Larabee 1 0-2 2, Marshall 0 0-0 0, Sanders 1 0-1 2, Lane 0 0-0 0, Childs 0 2-4 2, Roberts 0 0-0 0, Cisneros-Watson 0 0-0 0, Avaloy 0 0-0 0, Gasbarro 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-17 44.
St. Francis—Scholl 5 0-1 13, Stout 5 6-6 18, Yanan 1 0-0 2, Donati 4 7-8 15, Spahn 2 0-0 4, O’Donnell 0 1-2 1, Roswold 3 0-0 6, Melka 1 0-0 2, Cox 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 14-17 61.
Score by quarters
Glenbard South 9 6 8 21—44
St. Francis 18 13 10 20—61
Three point baskets: Glenbard South 1 (Harks), St. Francis 5 (Schott 3, Stout 2). Total fouls: Glenbard South 17, St. Francis 16. Turnovers: Glenbard South 15, St. Francis 19.
