St. Bernard Unable to Catch Notre Dame in Last Minute

St. Bernard High had been waiting three long weeks to exact revenge on Notre Dame.

But Notre Dame made sure that revenge was not forthcoming.

Notre Dame did not trail in the Mission League game Friday but had to pull a few tricks to eke out a 60-57 victory in the final minutes.

The Knights (18-4, 9-1) now hold a two-game lead over St. Bernard (11-11, 7-3) and St. Paul with two games left.

A victory against Bishop Montgomery or Crespi next week will clinch it for the Knights.

Notre Dame, which came from behind to beat St. Bernard, 60-58, on Jan. 11, set the pace this time and it was St. Bernard that had to play catch-up.

The Knights, who grabbed a 14-0 lead, led, 58-56, with 1 minute 16 seconds remaining after Bob DaCorsi made the front end of a one-and-one foul shot.

St. Bernard’s Wyking Jones, a 6-foot-7 center who has committed to Loyola Marymount, pulled down the rebound on the ensuing missed free throw and immediately threw a pass out of bounds on the fast break.

G.C. Marcaccini, who entered the game with 2:17 left in place of Steve Colella who had fouled out, threw a swift, bull’s-eye pass to an unguarded DaCorsi underneath. But the ball caromed off DaCorsi’s hands and out of bounds.

After some ragged play by both teams, DaCorsi went to the line 45 seconds later and missed a one and one.

Rick Famuyiwa hit the front end of two foul shots as St. Bernard closed to 58-57 with 24 seconds left. Jones fouled out on a scramble for a rebound, sending Marcello Anderson-Tellez to the line.

But Anderson-Tellez wasn’t able to close the door on the rallying Vikings, either, missing his first free throw with 21 seconds left.

Anderson-Tellez managed to get his own rebound in the backcourt, however, to preserve the Knights’ lead.

It was junior guard Omar Seikaly who finished off St. Bernard. Seikaly made two free throws with 10 seconds left to give Notre Dame a 60-57 advantage.

Barry Harper’s three-point attempt went in and out with four seconds left, before teammate Parker Jenkins threw up the last shot, which was unsuccessful from three-point range.

Notre Dame built a 14-0 lead, six of the points coming from Anderson-Tellez, before the Vikings scored with Jones’ five-footer with 3:56 remaining in the first quarter.

St. Bernard trailed, 36-27, at halftime, but cut it to 49-46 after three quarters.

Jones, who the Knights held to nine points three weeks ago, finished with a game-high 20 points. Jones was 10 for 10 at the line.

Anderson-Tellez led the Knights with 15 points, followed by DaCorsi with 14.