St. Christopher’s did everything it could to try and slow St. Anne’s-Belfield from both running up and down the court and then running it’s offense through Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier. With Jalen Harrison and Jayden Nixon responding offensively, it wasn’t a problem, and especially not in the first half. And even still, Montgomery-DeLaurier still had his effect on the game. While St. Christopher almost caught up to STAB in the middle of the fourth, the host hit enough of it’s free throws in foul-fest in the second half to pick up a 75-65 win on senior night.
“That’s a huge win,” said St. Anne’s coach Brian Kent. “It’s a team that we lost to by one and because of free throws. We came in tied in the Prep League standings. It was tough, they always play well, execute and have two dominant scorers.”
The first meeting between the two saw STAB come up just short, 62-61, but with Harrison getting his team started early, the home crowd was treated to an early 8-3 lead that stuck until late in the second quarter. It was there that Nick Kent and Nixon hit back-to-back three pointers and gave St. Anne’s a 38-24 lead going into the break.
“It felt great because sometimes we come out with slow starts but today there was a sense of urgency,” Harrison said. “We have a lot of people that can score so to get everyone involved was great and it helped to keep us on this roll that we’re on right now.”
In the second half, St. Christopher’s Nic Sherrod and Alexander Petrie whiddled away at the St. Anne’s lead, getting the deficit to eight points in the third quarter and then as close as five points midway through the fourth. On the other side of the floor, STAB spent almost the entire half shooting free throws as St. Christopher’s refused to allow the transition game to flourish. While that tactic work for a good chunk of the third and fourth, the foul trouble and double bonus caught up with the visitors. After it was 60-55 midway through the fourth, STAB pulled ahead to a 68-57 lead after a Kareem Johnson layup. It was a lead that stuck rest of the way as St. Anne’s started knocking down foul shots and coming up with defensive stops.
“With it being senior night, I think these guys were pumped up and were ready to play,” Kent said. “Jalen started the game and made that huge and-1 play and I just knew (the seniors) were going to play strong. At the end, we hit just enough free throws to get it done.”
Harrison finished with 18 points including 7-of-10 shooting at the free throw line in the fourth quarter to go with his 10 rebounds. Montgomery-DeLaurier had 17 points and 17 rebounds. Nixon had 22 points and nine rebounds. The three seniors had 57 combined points on senior night. Before the game it was also announced that Montgomery-DeLaurier’s jersey would be retired.
For St. Christopher’s, Petrie finished with 18 points while Sherod led all scorers with his 23 points.
Since starting 1-4 on the year, STAB is now 15-6 and sits atop of the Prep League standings. St. Anne’s will travel to Woodberry Forest on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in a meeting of two of the hottest teams in the Prep League. The Saints beat the Tigers 63-53 in the first meeting between the two back in mid-December. It was a win that started the 14-2 season run on wins for STAB.
