Princeton uses second half surge to beat Toledo St. John's in Division I semifinal

Dan Labbe, OhioHSsports.com, March 27, 2009 9:33 p.m.

View full size

Toledo St. John's Jay Springs, center, drives to the basket past Cincinnati Princeton's Orlando Williams, left, and Jordan Sibert during the second quarter. - (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

For 2 1/2 quarters it appeared as if unranked Toledo St. John's could play even with second ranked Princeton. In the end, though, the 15th ranked team in the country was too much for the Titans.

St. John's used a 17-3 run that spanned 4:54 seconds in the third and fourth quarters to put St. John's behind them, ultimately winning the game, 55-41, and setting up a matchup with No. 1 ranked Northland Saturday night at 8:30 p.m.

Following a quiet first half, junior Jordan Sibert scored five straight for the Vikings including an alley-oop dunk to extend the lead to 38-32. Two Marquise Horn baskets (18 points, 6 rebounds) extended the Princeton lead to ten with 6:21 to play in the game.

"We knew at some point we were going to have to make a run," said Sibert, who scored 15 points.

Princeton ran out to a 9-5 lead early in the first thanks to two buckets by senior Marquise Horn. St. John's closed the quarter strong, though, on an 8-2 run, keyed by four points from senior Tim Simmons.

Princeton jumped out early in the second, retaking the lead on junior Marcus Davis' 3-pointer as part of a 9-2 run. St. John's battled back late in the half, though. Michael Taylor scored his team's final nine points over the last 4:48 of the half, but an Orlando Williams three and a putback by Darrian Wilkins kept Princeton in front wiht a 25-20 lead heading to the locker room.

Taylor scored 13 of St. John's 20 first-half points. Marquise Horn paced Princeton in the first half with eight points.

"We go in spurts," said Vikings head coach Josh Andrews. "It's just grinding the game out and being tough."