By Anthony Bosco
St. Francis Prep, now 6-5 on the season, lost back-to-back games to Poly Prep and St. Edmund before salvaging the tournament with a win over Queens foes the Newtown Pioneers Sunday, 72-46.
In the win, senior forward Rashad Bell led the way with 22 points, followed by 12 by Kevin White and 11 by Mike DeVardo. The loss dropped Newtown's record to 6-7.
The win came on the heels of a disappointing four-point los to St. Edmund. Bell again led St. Francis with 30 points, but the Eagles got solid contributions from stars Andreas Pope and Joseph McLeod to carry the day.
St. Francis opened the tournament with a surprising 71-54 defeat at the hands of Brooklyn's Poly Prep, which scored the first 13 points of the game and never let St. Francis back in it. Poly led by 16 at the half, 36-20.
Ray Corrigan led Poly with 24, followed by Colgate-signee Keith Williams with 16 points and seven rebounds, Willie Prakope with 18 points and Andrew Sander with seven points and seven assists. Bell again led Prep with 21 points, as White contributed 14.
Archbishop Molloy 60, DeMatha (Md.) 45. Hofstra-bound Wendell Gibson had 16 points and 22 rebounds for the Stanners in this win at the Beach Ball Classic at Myrtle Beach, S.C. John Sikiric led Molloy with 17 points.
Monsignor McClancy 73, Knoxville Karns (Tenn.) 71. Wesley Matthews scored in the final seconds of regulation to give the Crusaders this hard-fought win in the consolation game of the Rice Chrysler Christmas Tournament in Knoxville. Matthews finished with 14, while Kevin Bishop led McClancy with 25 and Tremaine Stevens and Elvis Damjanovich scored 13 apiece.
Cathedral Prep 59, Martin Luther 43. Tom Czaplinski scored a team-high 22 points for the Cathedral Prep Crusaders in a win over Queens' Martin Luther last week.
Western Hills 60, Archbishop Molloy 58. Sikiric and Gibson had solid efforts in this tournament loss to the Stanners. Sikiric led with 16 and Gibson contributed a double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds.
West High (Tenn.) 92, Monsignor McClancy 85. Bishop had a solid outing in this losing effort, scoring 32 points for the Crusaders.
