St. Francis basketball comes up short in league battle against Chaminade
WEST HILLS — It was a heavily contested Mission League basketball game between St. Francis High and Chaminade on Wednesday.
The teams swapped 11 lead changes, but with nearly six minutes remaining, the Eagles grabbed the lead from the Golden Knights and eventually set up a double-digit advantage.
Though St. Francis senior Andre Henry sparked a rally with eight points in the final 90 seconds, the Golden Knights fell short on the road, as host Chaminade held on to win, 67-64.
“They just battled,” said St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson, who coached at Chaminade for seven seasons before departing for St. Francis in 2015. “I love this team. They battled.
“People look at wins and losses a lot, and I know it doesn’t look it because we lost, but I don’t really care to be honest with you. They battled so hard. I’ll roll with this team any day of the week.”
Henry, who’s committed to UC Irvine, led St. Francis (18-5, 1-1 in league) with 27 points, five rebounds and five assists. Golden Knights senior Kai Glassen knocked down four three-pointers on his way to 14 points and senior Jason Gallant added nine points.
“I think we showed a lot of heart,” said Henry, who hit a three-pointer and was five-of-six from the free-throw line in his eight-point rally. “Most teams would have quit down 10 with a minute-and-a-half left and we had a chance. We had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but, honestly, we fight. We were taught to fight and that’s what we do.”
The Eagles (18-3, 2-0) received a monster second-half effort from junior Kenneth Simpson Jr., who scored 10 points in each of the final two quarters. He finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, while junior Keith Higgins Jr. added 15 points and four steals and senior Wilson Pool contributed 13 points and five rebounds.
St. Francis took a brief one-point advantage early in the fourth, but Chaminade responded to take a 52-49 lead with 5:35 to go.
A three-point play from Henry tied the score at 52 before the Eagles regained the lead off of a three-pointer from Simpson Jr.
After a free throw from Gallant to cut the Chaminade lead to 55-53, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run and established a 10-point advantage with 2:10 left.
Free throws from Henry and a three-pointer from Glassen pulled St. Francis to within 65-61 with 34.4 left. But a pair of free throws from Simpson Jr. made it a six-point margin with 14.8 remaining.
Henry then knocked down a three-pointer with 9.2 left to make it a 67-64 contest before the Golden Knights sent Chaminade junior Colin Weems to the line, where he missed.
Henry grabbed the rebound and the Golden Knights drove down the court, but the Eagles’ double-team pressure forced the three-point attempt from St. Francis sophomore Buckley DeJardin to go wide at the buzzer.
“St. Francis did a really, really good job of not letting us get the ball inside,” Chaminade coach Bryan Cantwell said. “It took that advantage away from us. They rushed us into quick, early shots that we don’t necessarily want to do.
“And on the offensive end, they do a really good job of getting the ball to Andre in good spots so he could score. I think we did a good job on him.”
The Golden Knights took an 8-2 lead after Henry completed a three-point play, and a Harper layup at 4:50 would be the visitors’ final field goal for nearly three minutes.
The Eagles went on a 9-0 run to take a 13-10 lead before Jake Goldberg ended the Golden Knights’ scoring drought. However, Chaminade scored five unanswered to close the quarter with an 18-12 lead.
Eagles senior Wilson Pool contributed six points in the host’s 14-2 quarter-ending run.
Trailing Chaminade by six points, a three-pointer from Glassen put the Golden Knights within one point before a three from senior Frederick Harper gave St. Francis a 23-22 lead with five minutes left in the half.
The teams then shared two lead changes, but a three-pointer from Higgins Jr. tied it again, this time at 28, with 1:32 to play in the half.
Another three from Glassen gave the Golden Knights a 34-28 lead at the 44.1 mark, but the Eagles cut it to 34-33 by halftime.
St. Francis opened the second half by extending its lead to five points at the 5:59 mark. A three by Simpson Jr. erased the advantage and tied it at 40 with 3:54 left in the third quarter.
The Golden Knights pulled away for another three-point lead before Weems tied it at 43 with 2:22 remaining in the quarter.
St. Francis led by one point with 1:44 remaining, but Simpson Jr. scored back-to-back layups to give Chaminade a 48-45 lead at the end of the third.