St. Francis basketball rolls by Roosevelt, into CIF championship game
Throughout the postseason, the St. Francis High basketball team has been sturdy on defense and opportunistic on offense.
It’s a lethal combination that’s paved the way for the Golden Knights to enjoy a successful journey by registering some convincing victories. It’s also put them in position to reach the championship game for the second time in program history.
St. Francis provided another example of its steady play, as Andre Henry finished with a game-high 22 points to power visiting St. Francis to a 60-33 win against Roosevelt on Friday in a CIF Southern Section Division II-AA semifinal contest.
St. Francis (26-7) will meet top-seeded Santa Clarita Christian in the championship game Friday or Saturday at a time and venue to be determined. Santa Clarita Christian, the No. 1 seed, recorded an 89-83 overtime semifinal win versus Chaminade on Friday.
“We just like the way we’ve been playing, and it starts with our defense because it gives us a chance to be in every game,” St. Francis fifth-year coach Todd Wolfson said. “You have to give our defense a lot of credit and they keep working hard at getting better.
“We held down a very good team tonight and we didn’t allow them to go on any long scoring runs. That helped us stay in control. Just to get to the championship game is a dream and we have a chance to do something special.”
St. Francis, which took third in the Mission League behind Harvard-Westlake and Chaminade before earning postseason wins against La Cañada, San Gabriel Academy and No. 2 Heritage Christian, held Roosevelt (24-8) to 17 first-half points in building a comfortable 26-17 halftime advantage.
The UC Irvine-bound Henry had 12 first-half points and Jason Gallant had nine of his 14 points in the first half to aid the Golden Knights, who reached the Division III-A championship game in 2014.
“We knew coming in that Roosevelt has a good team and that defense would be the key,” said Henry, who contributed nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. “I think we were able to establish ourselves early in the game at both ends and everything started to click.
“Right now, I’m just happy for our coaches and the players. We’ve been playing our best basketball.”
Henry had six first-quarter points for the Golden Knights, who never trailed. He made a short shot to give St. Francis a 14-6 lead with 1:05 left in the first quarter.
Gallant made three three-pointers in the first half. He made a three-pointer from the left side to make it 22-10 with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter.
St. Francis widened its lead to 37-21 on a three-point play by Henry with 1:22 to play in the third quarter.
The Golden Knights took a 50-24 lead on a three-pointer by Jake Goldberg with 5:10 left in the fourth quarter.
“Everybody is doing their job and stepping up,” Gallant said. “It’s full credit to the coaching staff to get us prepared.
“We didn’t allow many second-chance baskets and we had long possessions. It’s so amazing to get this far.”
The Golden Knights, who limited the Mustangs to just four third-quarter points, got seven points from Kai Glassen.
“I think holding them down the way we did in the third quarter was huge,” Wolfson said. “It just allowed us to stay locked in.”
Roosevelt, which finished second in the Big VIII League, received eight points from Christian Espericueta and six from Paul Ezanyim.
Roosevelt beat Newport Harbor, St. Bernard and Alemany to reach the semifinals.
