Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006

St. Edward (Ohio) 72, St. John's College Prep (D.C.) 61

Stat of the game | St. Edward outscored St. John's 50-25 in the second half after trailing 36-22 at halftime. St. John's shot 65 percent in the first half and held the Eagles to 33 percent, but the teams reversed shooting percentages in the second half.

Turning point | St. Edward closed the halftime gap and tied the game at 43-all on a runner from Pe'Shon Howard with 9:54 left. The Eagles ran away with the championship the rest of the way.

Game summary | St. Edward used its stifling defense to frustrate teams all tournament, but didn't hit its stride offensively until the second half Saturday. Chris Wright paced St. John's with 31 points, although he was a much bigger factor in the first half with 18 points. Vlad Moldoveanu had 12 for St. Johns but was saddled with foul trouble in the second half. Four Eagles finished in double figures, including MVP Delvon Roe, who scored 19 points in the final. Roe was the difference in the second half, scoring 13 points and helping to swing the momentum on a alley-oop dunk at the 7:47 mark.

Quoting St. Edward coach Eric Flannery | "We kind of said at halftime, let's just forget about the first half. Our job at that point was to take it possession by possession and win this game. I thought we played tired and just had to get back to the energy we had played with. Play by play that energy starting coming back."

Quoting St. John's College Prep coach Paul DeStefano | "We ran into a buzz saw. They did a great job defensively, and they hit some shots. We had a great first half, but they had a greater second half."

ST. EDWARD (72) - Hubbard 1-6 1-2 3, Salay 2-6 2-2 7, Dobbs 1-4 5-6 8, Roe 7-13 5-7 19, Pritchard 4-5 3-4 11, Staples 0-1 0-0 0, Howard 4-6 0-1 10, Hartnett 1-1 0-0 2, Sterba 4-6 0-0 10, Tilow 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-50 16-22 72.

ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE PREP (61) - Wright 12-26 4-4 31, Hoes 0-4 0-0 0, Milburn 3-7 3-4 9, Petcu 3-3 0-0 6, Moldoveanu 5-10 0-0 12, Burrell 0-0 0-0 0, Neal 1-1 1-2 3, Truhe 0-0 0-0 0, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 8-10 61.

Halftime-St. John's College Prep 36-22. 3-point goals-St. Edward 6-17 (Hubbard 0-2, Salay 1-3, Dobbs 1-3, Roe 0-1, Howard 2-4, Sterba 2-3, Tilow 0-1), St. John's College Prep 5-14 (Wright 3-9, Hoes 0-1, Moldoveanu 2-4). Fouled out-Moldoveanu. Rebounds-St. Edward 28 (Pritchard 8), St. John's College Prep 27 (Wright 7). Assists-St. Edward 13 (Howard 4), St. John's College Prep 9 (Milburn 7). Total fouls-St. Edward 13, St. John's College Prep 13. Technicals-none.

Records: St. Edward 8-0, St. John's College Prep 10-2.