The host St. Francis Lancers took down the Bellarmine Bells 53-50 on senior night.
“My teammates all played hard and stepped up with clutch passing and rebounding,” said senior guard Mike Lauck. “We have fought through some tough adversity this season and I think our crowd definitely kept us going when we needed them.”
Fittingly, the game went down to the wire. The Lancers (9-14, 4-9) led 51-44 with just under two minutes to play. Then, Jackson Gion got to the line for the Bells and hit one of two free throws. After Saint Francis failed to score on the ensuing possession, Grant Vermeer came up with a big three from the left corner to make it a one-possession game.
On the next possession, controversy struck as Vermeer pulled up for a three on the left side of the arc, pump faked to draw the defender in the air, and jumped into the defender to get a foul call. There didn’t seem to be much contact on the play and loud boos arose from the St. Francis cheering section.
“We have worked very hard in practice each day and huge shout out to our cheering section who kept us going the whole game,” said Lauck.
Vermeer knocked down 2-of-3 from the line to cut the lead to one.
On the ensuing possession for the Lancers, Lauck drove hard to the right for the lay-in and the foul. He converted the free throw to go up 53-50. The Bells (15-8, 5-8) called a time out with 3.5 seconds remaining to draw up a play. It seemed to break down after the inbound pass, and Danny Schatzman was forced to throw up a contested three at the top of the key. It went off the front iron.
The Lancers staved off the furious rally without their leading scorer and catalyst of the offense, Khalid Johnson, who left with 1:37 left in the game when he aggravated a bone chip in his left ankle.
The Lancers came out with energy, as Weitzel made his presence felt on the game's first possession when he swatted a shot into the stands. It was the Bells, though, who led after the first quarter, 13-8.
The Bells looked as if they would take the game early after reeling off six straight points to start the second quarter. However, almost 2:30 into the quarter Khalid Johnson hit a three to end the drought and cut the lead to 19-11. The Lancers ended the quarter on a big surge led by Johnson and Nicholas Keyes. Keyes hit a three, and then Johnson converted a floater. Johnson then made a three with 1:02 left in the half to tie the game at 23, bringing the St. Francis fans to their feet.
On the last play of the half, Keyes grabbed an offensive rebound and went up strong, got fouled, and converted the shot, and then the free throw to go into the half with a 26-23 lead.
The key to that run is simple: “It all comes back to our defense. We got a few stops in a row which led to our offensive success through out the game. Once we got momentum on defense we started getting good shots and crashed the board,” said Lauck.
The third quarter was a sloppy affair, with the Bells going 2-of-11 from the field and the Lancers going a dismal 3-of-19. The Lancers kept a slim 34-33 at the end of the quarter.
The Lancers then heated up from the field in the fourth quarter (8-of-10).
A key for the Lancers was shutting down Vermeer, Bellarmine’s best scorer.
“We talked about knowing where Grant is at all times,” said Motil. “He’s a great basketball player. I’m glad to see him graduate so I don’t have to play against him anymore.”
Vermeer was held to just 11 points, but took seven rebounds. He scored five points in the fourth quarter, and shot 4-of-10 from the field overall.
Another key for the Lancers was rebounding down the stretch. Johnson pulled down eight rebounds and Weitzel added seven. “We did a really good job of rebounding,” said Motil. “Alex [Weitzel] and Alex [Frazier] and Eric [Morgan] did a really good job of being aggressive on the boards.”
The Bells also could not consistenly make free throws all game, especially in the second half in which they shot 9-of-17.
From the beginning of the game, it was clear that the atmosphere was like that of no other WCAL matchup.
“It’s our true rival. The schools are great rivals, and it’s a rivalry with real dignity,” said Bellarmine coach Patrick Schneider. “There’s not anger or viciousness, it’s just a great, great rivalry. The energy in the gym is going to reflect how both schools grudgingly hate the other, but if you really scratch deep at either St. Francis or Bellarmine, people will honestly say, ‘hey, we really like this rivalry and we really like beating the other side.’ It’s just a great respect that both schools have for each other and a great passion and energy for these games.”
The Lancers, who are in the midst of a disappointing season, broke a four-game losing streak. Things just clicked on this night.
“It’s Bellarmine. It’s your rival. It’s senior night. It’s not that we haven’t been playing hard. It’s not that we haven’t put forth the effort," Lauck said. "We just haven’t been able to get wins and doing a good job of closing games. We did that tonight.”
