Pioneers can't tame Leo

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:48PM

Sometimes your best is not good enough. To put it simply, Leo (6-0) just had too much talent for St. Francis de Sales (1-5) to cope with as the Lions remained undefeated with a 60-40 victory in the Catholic League.

The Lions couldn't pull away in the first quarter and led 16-13 on a basket by Joshua Gilbert. But they got off to a good start in the second quarter with a 10-2 spurt and opened up to a 26-16 lead with 4:55 remaining in the third quarter on a jumper by Paul Beene.

It was all down hill from there for the visitors as the Lions finished out the quarter 39-17.

Maurice Joiner notched a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds along with three blocks and three assists. Beene finished with 14 points and Sean Moore Jr. added 11 points.

Joe Pearson led St. Francis with 11 points and Eric Washington scored 10 points.

Rebounding was the key for Leo as they out-rebounded the Pioneers 42-26.

Despite going down in a losing effort, St. Francis coach Kevin Wolfe said he was encouraged by his team's effort. "Leo is a well-coached, very talented team. I was pleased with the way we competed with them in the first quarter. After we got into foul trouble and had to go to our bench they just had too much talent for us to compete."

Leo coach Noah Cannon said he liked what he saw. "This was our home opener and I wanted to see how we would respond to our crowd. We got some great senior leadership from Maurice and Paul."

Cannon also said the game was dedicated to Lloyd Fuller, who has driven the bus for Leo for the past 35 years. "He's not doing too well right now, he's in our Hall of Fame and a big part of the Leo family. The kids all love him. He's a very special person."

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