St. Francis basketball fends off Birmingham rally to move on in CIF state regional playoffs
LA CAÑADA — It was a great start for the St. Francis High basketball team in a CIF State Division II Southern California Regional quarterfinal contest against Birmingham on Thursday.
The top-seeded Golden Knights grabbed every loose ball and rebound to jump to a double-digit lead while holding the No. 9 Patriots scoreless for the first six minutes of the game.
However, the Patriots stormed out in the fourth quarter and erased the Golden Knights’ lead to tie the score with less than two minutes remaining.
The Golden Knights’ defense held up late and key rebounds from senior Andre Henry sent him to the free-throw line four times in the final minute.
Henry knocked down seven of his eight free-throw attempts as host St. Francis hung on for a 48-42 victory over Birmingham.
“Not boxing out cost us late in the game and that’s how they got back into it,” said Henry, a UC Irvine commit. “Coach just told us to stay composed and just keep on fighting. All the great teams continue to fight until the last whistle and that’s what we did today.”
St. Francis, the No. 1 seed and CIF Southern Section Division II-AA runner-up, will host No. 12 Oxnard, the CIF Southern Section Division II-A semifinalist, in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Saturday.
After opening up the fourth with a three-pointer from sophomore Jake Goldberg, the Patriots went on a 14-0 run and tied the contest at 40 with 1:28 left.
“[Birmingham coach] Nick Halic does a fantastic job with his guys, so I knew they weren’t going to quit,” St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson said. “That’s the kind of guy he is and that’s the kind of team he coaches. We knew they were coming for us.”
Henry was fouled 18 seconds later and made one of his two shots from the line to give the Golden Knights (28-8) a one-point lead with 1:10 to go.
Birmingham (20-10) tied it again at 41 when Patriots senior Elisha Cofield made one of two free throws moments later.
Henry closed out the game with a pair of rebounds and six consecutive makes at the charity stripe to send the hosts onto the regional semifinals.
“We tried to speed them up and trap them,” said Birmingham coach Nick Halic, who was an assistant under Wolfson at Chaminade. “We tried to double-team them on certain guys and not on some other guys. When they try to screen for each other, you can’t double them because they’re both good.
“The other guys are just shooters and you can double off them and rotate. Give credit to them. They did a good job. They were ready to play right when it tipped.”
Henry finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and three steals. St. Francis senior Jason Gallant added nine points and six rebounds.
Patriots junior Corey Cofield II and senior Elisha Cofield each scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds each.
St. Francis, which finished third in the Mission League, jumped out to a 12-0 start as Birmingham struggled to make a shot.
Birmingham, a semifinalist in the CIF L.A. City Section Open Division and West Valley League co-champion, finally got on the board to make it a 12-2 Golden Knights advantage at 2:24 in the first behind a pair of free throws from senior Isaiah Tucker.
The Patriots scored their first field goal with 6.1 left in the frame and ended the quarter shooting one of 14 to trail the Golden Knights, 14-4.
“A credit to our fans,” Wolfson said. “They got us going in the first quarter.”
Birmingham turned things around in the second quarter and outscored St. Francis, 11-2, in a four-minute span to cut the Golden Knights’ lead to 22-15 with 1:48 in the half.
A three-pointer from Jake Goldberg restored the Golden Knights’ double-digit lead, but the Patriots pulled to within 25-19 at the break and completed five-of-six shots from the field.
The Golden Knights regained a double-figure lead, 29-19, to start the third, and a steal from senior Dexter Assa led to a Henry basket to finish the quarter with a 37-26 advantage.
