Boys Basketball: Montini wears down St Edward

Updated: December 16, 2011 11:50PM

St. Edward gave Montini a good run, but in the second half the Broncos wore out the much smaller Green Wave, 49-38, in Suburban Christian Gold Conference play on Friday. Tyshawn Johnson led the Broncos with 12 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

“I was just trying to adjust how they were playing on defense,” said Johnson, who just joined the team following playing on the Broncos Class 5A football championship team. “We rebounded real well in the second half. It was a tough game.”

The Green Wave used its quickness and slowed the pace of the game to stifle the Broncos to lead 20-13 at the half. But the Broncos (2-1, 3-1) came out with a vengeance in the second half outscoring the Green Wave 16-11 in the third quarter to cut the Green Wave lead to two points, 31-29.

“The first half was very difficult to stomach,” said Broncos Coach Brian Opoka. “I believed in the team. We were very blessed to finish strong. Our size really helped. Our kids went to the glass strong; a couple of big offensive rebounds really set the tone for us.”

Johnson scored on a three-point play with 4:22 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 22-22 and the game began to crumble for the Green Wave. The Broncos, after shooting 5 for 14 from the free throw line in the first three quarters, shot 8 for 9 in the fourth quarter from the line, including 5 for 5 by Johnson.

“Turnover hurt us in the fourth quarter,” said Green Wave Coach P.J. White. “We played at the pace we wanted to play at slowing the game down. But you can’t let them go to the free throw line as much as they did in the fourth quarter.”

The Broncos outscored the Green Wave 20-7 in the fourth quarter to seal the game.

Eddie O’Halloran led the Green Wave (0-2, 4-5) with 11 points.

“We came out slow in the second half. Their pressure was getting to us,” said O’Halloran. “I’m very disappointed by our play in the second half. Their defense just tore us apart.”

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