Boys Basketball: North Boone gets by St Edward

Updated: February 20, 2012 9:53PM

St. Edward could only overcome a decisive size disadvantage for so long on Monday night. After a valiant effort for three quaters eventually the Green Wave fell victim to North Boone’s post game losing 48-36 in the opening round of the Class 2A regional at Genoa-Kingston.

The Green Wave trailed just 32-30 heading into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 16-6 by the Vikings in the final eight minutes. St. Edward was at least at a three to four inch size disadvantage at every position on the court for most of the game. Making matters worse was the Green Wave’s tallest -- two players freshman callup Nick Duffy and senior Zack McQueen -- were in foul trouble most of the game and both fouled out in the fourth quarter.

“We tried to pack a zone to keep the ball out the post the best we could,” said St. Edward coach P.J. White. “But eventually their size just wore us down. Once we got in foul trouble we had to go with three guards and they were really able to exploit that.”

The Green Wave got off to a rocky start falling behind 10-0 but thanks to some hot shooting from the three point arc managed to recover and tie the game at 22-22 by the break. St. Edward hit five-of-six three point attempts in the second quarter alone. Antonio Domel and Eddie O’Halloran knocked down three three-pointers each in the first half for the Green Wave.

However, the Green Wave cooled down considerably in the second half, shooting just 5 of 23 from the field, including 1 of 9 from the three-point arc.

“We got on a roll there for a little while,” said White. “We just couldn’t keep it going. We still had some good shots, but they did a good job of extending their zone and coming out to challenge us.”

Meanwhile, North Boone almost went exclusively to an inside game in the second half. All nine of the Vikings baskets in the second half came in the post. North Boone also hit 10 of 12 free throws in the second half.

Domel finished with 14 points to lead St Edward in scoring. O”Halloran added 11 points. The Green Wave finished the season 11-17, four wins better than a season ago.

“Not many people gave a chance at even that,” said White. “We took a step in the right direction, so overall I’m happy with the progress we have made. We have some bigger kids coming up so hopefully we’ll continue to be able to improve. 11 wins is still not good enough. We don’t want to just settle for mediocrity.”

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