Boys Basketball: St. Genevieve shocks St. Paul, 59-57

Alan Santiago of St. Paul drives by St. Genevieve defender Marcel Burton during their Santa Fe League game.  PHOTO BY CHRIS BURT

Alan Santiago of St. Paul drives by St. Genevieve defender Marcel Burton during their Santa Fe League game.
PHOTO BY CHRIS BURT


BOYS BASKETBALL
SANTA FE LEAGUE
ST. GENEVIEVE 59, ST. PAUL 57


SANTA FE SPRINGS — St. Paul High School will likely win its first boys basketball league title since 2009. But not the way the Swordsmen were hoping.Brandon Bolosky scored 17 points and made three free throws with 1.6 seconds left to play as St. Genevieve put itself in a position to share the Santa Fe League crown with St. Paul after scoring a 59-57 victory over the host Swordsmen on Monday.
DJ Walker had 23 points for the Valiants, who improved to 15-12 overall and 8-1 in league play. Louis Bangai scored 22 points and Jaylen Ballou had 21 for St. Paul, which slipped to 18-5 and 8-1.
The Swordsmen missed two free throws in the 21 seconds that could have clinched the game. Christian DeSilva missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.
St. Paul, after trailing 29-27 at halftime and most of the first two quarters, looked like it might secure the title after outscoring St. Genevieve 18-14 in the third quarter and 6-2 to begin the fourth for a 51-46 advantage.
But the Valiants wouldn’t go away.
Luis Escobar scored on a layup at 4:58 to cut it to 51-48 before Bolosky nailed a 3-pointer to tie it at 51 with 4:31 left. Bangai made one of two free throws for a 55-54 lead with 2:55 left, and after Walker gave St. Genevieve the lead back, he dropped in a layup for a 57-56 advantage with 1:32 left.
Both sides then missed layups with less than 40 seconds to play before Bangai and Ballou missed free throws with 21 and five seconds left.
Bolosky, after Ballou’s miss, got the ball running before half-court and threw up a desperation 3-pointer from about 40 feet that was long. But he was fouled, and made all three free throws for the 59-57 lead with 1.6 seconds left to win it.
St. Paul coach Damaine Powell: “They’re a good team, very well-coached. We missed two free throws that would have sealed the game; we missed a wide-open layup that would have sealed the game, and then we had a really dumb foul (at the end of the game). That’s four mistakes in 15 seconds. You’re not going to beat good team playing like that. It’s unfortunate. We just have to pick up the pieces and move on.”

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Email