Boys Basketball: Adebayo Babalola helps the Pioneers bowl over Hampshire

Updated: November 21, 2011 9:21PM

A late bus may have contributed to a slow start for St. Francis de Sales on Monday, but once the Pioneers got up to speed they blew past Hamphire.

St. Francis de Sales chipped away to erase a 13-point, first-quarter deficit and then exploded for 29 points in a wild final quarter to rally for a 74-70 win in opening round action at the Leland G. Strombom Holiday Tournament in Sycamore.

The Pioneers forced 17 turnovers in the second half, which they converted into 18 points.

“We got here late and just had a tough time getting into the flow early on,” St. Francis coach Kevin Wolfe said. ‘‘Their big kids were just killing us in the halfcourt in the first half, but we felt if we started pressuring the ball we could change the tempo more in our favor.”

St Francis trailed 36-28 at the break before outscoring Hampshire 17-11 in the third quarter to pull to within 47-45. A three-point play by Willi Orange off a turnover tied the game at 50-50 with 5:45 left to play. After another Hampshire turnover Ahmad Malone hit a three-pointer to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game at 53-50.

The Whip Purs answered with a 9-1 run to take a 59-54 advantage. But the Pioneers scored the next nine points to take the lead for good.

Terrone Parhan sliced through the lane for a layup and the go-ahead basket putting St. Francis de Sales on top 61-59 with 2:21 remaining. Adebayo Babalola then scored off a steal for the Pioneers, who converted 11 of 14 free throws in the final two minutes, including its final seven.

Babalola finished with a team-high 20 points to lead St. Francis de Sales. Malone added 18 points.

Hampshire dominated the game early on with its two 6-foot-6 post players — Tyler Watzlawick and Shane Hernandez. The pair combined for 29 first-half points. Watzlawick scored a game-high 25 points, but fouled out with 4:39 to play. Hernandez finished with 22 points.

“The foul trouble and the turnovers just snowballed on us,” Hampshire coach Bob Barnett said. “We have some young kids handling the ball and they had a tough time once they started putting the pressure on. It’s impossible to simulate that kind of speed in practice. Then the foul trouble really took the halfcourt game away from us.”

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