St. Pauls clinched second place in the MIAA B Conference basketball standings with a 66-47 win over St. Vincent Pallotti, in Brooklandville on Wednesday night. The defending champs will now have a first round bye and will host a semifinal playoff game.
Juniors Lamont Wade and Tanner Brooks paced the Crusaders with 19 and 18 points, respectively, and Wade had 11 “hustle” plays.
Coach Seth Goldberg said that Wade dove for 11 loose balls, a stat that means more to the coach than any other.
Goldberg said that his team was unselfish, and that they played hard as a unit. “I liked our focus. Our guys have been very intense.
“We want to be the team we know we can be,” added Goldberg, alluding to the conference playoffs that begin next Tuesday. Glenelg Country School, which edged Gilman, 63-61, on Wednesday, will go into the playoffs as the top seed.
The Crusaders poured in 26 points against Pallotti to takle a commanding 39-18 halftime lead, and the game was never in doubt from there.
Brooks nailed three three-pointers in the quarter to spark St. Pauls. Brooks and Wade combined for 26 first half points for the Crusaders.
Aubrey Williams led Pallotti with 13, and Langston Burnett added 10, all of which came in the third quarter.
Pallotti (8-9) fell to sixth in the B Conference standings. The first six teams qualify for the post season tournament.
Gilman, St. Mary’s, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Archbishop Curley, and Pallotti are all in playoff contention as the regular season winds down.
