St. Anne’s Belfield hosted Christchurch Friday night in a dominating 76-54 victory by the Saints. Junior Matt Palumbo and senior Jayden Nixon led the Saints to their sixth win of the season with 17 and 15 points respectively.
“We play a tough schedule so it was good to have a game like this today,” coach Brian Kent said.
The first quarter remained tight after Javin Montgomery-Delaurier picked up his only foul of the night 16 seconds into the game, allowing a gap in the Saints’ defense. Christchurch’s Brent Rice put up seven points in the first quarter and finished with 15. However, as the first quarter drew to a close, Palumbo heated up, knocking down a three to give STAB a 15-12 lead.
Palumbo continued his hot streak through the second quarter, scoring 12 points.
“[Palumbo’s] been playing really well, he’s been shooting the ball great,” Kent said. “He had a tough night on Tuesday, he rebounded tonight and responded well. He did a lot of great things on the floor defensively and then was able to knock down shots.”
On the defensive side, STAB shifted to a full-court defense, limiting Christchurch’s slow-paced offense to just 11 points in the second quarter. Seven different players scored for STAB’s offense in the second quarter leading them into halftime up 44-23.
The third quarter gave the Saints more momentum in their rout of Christchurch. A big three-pointer from Patrick Blake and dunks from both Montgomery-Delaurier and Nixon sent the crowd into uproar and the Seahorses into a slump. When the third quarter ended the score stood at 69-30 for St. Anne’s Belfield.
The fourth quarter rolled in and STAB’s starters took a seat and allowed the reserves to get in on the action.
“It’s a league game, so that’s a really good win for us,” Kent said. “We have two non-conference games next week that are really tough, that just make us better as we get back into our regular league schedule.”
The Saints host the Carlisle School (7-8) on Thursday night and then travel to take on Williamsburg Christian Academy (11-2) Saturday afternoon.
Christchurch looks to rebound from their 2-4 start to the season at home against Trinity Episcopal (10-2) Saturday afternoon.
