St. Vincent-St. Mary withstands St. Francis DeSales rally to win state semifinal matchup

Dan Labbe, OhioHSsports.com, March 27, 2009 3 p.m.

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St. Vincent-St. Mary's Michael Hammonds (3) is fouled by St. Francis DeSales' Nick Kellogg (15) during the first quarter their Division II state semifinal game. - (Tracy Boulian/Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Normally missing free throws can cost a team a win. For the Fighting Irish of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, their own missed free throws helped them put away the Stallions of St. Francis DeSales.

Leading 63-56 with just over 1:30 left in the ballgame after leading by 19 at the half, Daylen Harrison stepped to the free throw line and promptly missed the shot. BJ Brophy rebounded the miss and scored to go with a DeSales foul. Brophy then missed the ensuing free throw, but Harrison was there to put the ball back. Just like that, the Irish had opened up a 67-56 lead in a matter of four seconds and were on their way to playing Dayton Thurgood Marshall on Saturday evening at 5:15 p.m.

"We wanted to put the nail in the coffin and that's what we did," said Harrison (23 points, 9 rebounds). "That pretty much sealed it."

Michael Hammonds scored 25 points for the Irish as they held off a late DeSales rally to win, 75-61.

Nick Kellogg led DeSales with 25 points, 16 in the second half.

The teams traded baskets for much of the third quarter, but the Stallions chipped away late, closing to within 13 points at 54-41 on a layup by senior Ike Ariguzo (13 points). Kellogg and Ariguzo continued the run into the fourth quarter, closing to 56-50 with 5:52 to play on a layup by Ariguzo off a Kellogg feed.

St. Vincent-St. Mary responded with four straight points, grabbing a 60-50 lead with 5:01 to play on a Michael Hammonds layup. Less than two minutes later Seun Adejobi scored on a layup to pull the Stallions within six again. 

But that's the closest DeSales would get.

"We're on a mission," said Irish coach Dru Joyce. "These guys have been focused since the beginning of the season."

The Irish ran away from DeSales starting late in the first quarter. After Kellogg (9 first quarter points) gave the Stallions a 15-13 lead, St. Vincent-St. Mary proceeded to go on a 26-5 run over the final 10:07 of the first half. Hammonds contributed 8 points to the run, while Ricky Johnson Jr. chipped in five. Hammonds finished the first half with 15 points and Harrison scored 10 points to go with 5 boards in the first half.

Kellogg did not score over the final 9:36 of the half and went to the locker room with 9 points.

"When we play good defense we're hard to stop," said Hammond.

If they put together another half on Saturday like they did today, the Irish will be celebrating more than just another win.