St. Augustine Holds Off Hoover for Playoff Berth

The boys’ basketball playoff between Hoover and St. Augustine high schools Friday night probably showed the other City Central League teams which schools will be the teams to beat next season.

But, as St. Augustine Coach Dick Hardick said, it was the Saints who “came of age” first, beating the Cardinals, 56-50, before a packed house of about 500 at St. Augustine High.

The win gives the Saints (13-10) the league’s second berth in the San Diego Section 2-A playoffs. The teams tied for second in league with 6-4 records to force the playoff.

Hoover’s youth showed throughout the game. The Cardinals (11-14), with only two seniors, had several chances to break open the game, but a key missed free throw here and a turnover there kept them from beating St. Augustine, which beat Hoover all three times this season.

“We were out-performed,” Cardinal Coach Hal Mitrovich said. “The better team won. We had opportunities, but we couldn’t convert them.”

After the Saints took a 31-22 lead early in the second half, the Cardinals fought back and took their first lead, 36-35, with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

Hoover seemed to be in control at that point. The Cardinals caused the Saints to rush their offense, and, for the first time, Hoover was running its fast break.

But the Cardinals couldn’t make their opportunities count. Hoover made only 6 of 16 field-goal attempts in the third quarter, most of which were layups off the break. Hoover missed five shots on one possession before Charley Applegate put St. Augustine ahead for good, 37-36, with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Doug Carter scored his first basket of the night to put the Saints ahead, 45-40. Hoover again closed the gap to a point, 45-44, but again failed to capitalize on chances to go ahead. The Cardinals missed the front end of two one-and-one situations in the last two minutes. With the score at 53-50, Cardinal junior Tony Thomas, playing only his second game because of academic ineligibility, was called for traveling with 25 seconds left.

Applegate’s free throw put the Saints ahead, 54-50, with 14 seconds left.

Said Hardick: “I told these kids before league started, that the juniors would have to play like seniors, and the senior (Joe Shandley) would have to play like he was in college. They did that tonight when we needed it.”

Applegate finished with 28 points and Shandley added 16. Thomas scored 15, and Ken Matthews had 14 for Hoover, which shot 38.5% from the floor and 40% from the free-throw line. The Saints made 55% of their field-goal attempts.