Saints take what they can get from Sidwell

January 27, 2001

Saints take what they can get from Sidwell

By BOB PARASILITI / Staff Writer

ST. JAMES - It was almost like the St. James basketball team wanted to stay on cordial terms with Sidwell Friends.

The Saints weren't exactly demanding about the way the game was going to be played. It was more a case of St. James gladly accepting what their guests were offering.

And it wasn't exactly the style of game the Saints liked to play. Yet No. 10 St. James ignored its usual running attack, settling into a 2-3 defensive cocoon and some halfcourt play on Saturday to claim a 56-47 Mid Atlantic Conference victory.

The move was as much by design as it was by preservation.

"I'm really pleased with our defensive effort ... we aren't used to that," St. James coach Wayne Ridenour said. "We covered a lot of territory, but it's not our style. We like to go with it when we have the chance. But today, we went to the 2-3, partially to keep No. 20 out of the game and partially because we only have seven bodies."

St. James' short bench forces Ridenour to use different ideas to keep his team fresh and enough players on the floor.

But Saturday, it was a case of taking Sidwell Friends' center Luke Friedman out of the game. Friedman scored 28 points against the Saints earlier this season. He managed only six - including a 25-foot 3-pointer late in the game and three foul shots - on Saturday.

Meanwhile, St. James picked its shots as its Big Three - Billy Keyes, Phillip Scott and Jared Knotts - combined for 43 of the Saints' total points. Keyes had 15 points with 13 rebounds while Knotts scored 13 and pulled down 12 boards.

St. James (6-5, 6-2) led 24-22 at the half and came out more aggressive in the second half, but still only led 33-31 with 2:20 to go in third quarter. Reserve guard Mike Lelchtzki nailed a 3-pointer to start a quarter-ending 7-0 run for a 40-31 lead.

The Saints sealed the game by hitting 9 of 12 fouls shots in the final 1:30, despite hitting just 18-for-33 attempts for the game.

"(Lelchtzki's) shot was a good one and (the third quarter) was a good quarter for us," Ridenour said. "We said at the half that if we had a look inside, go to it. We didn't think they could go one on one with by Billy and Jared and we got them in foul trouble."

No. 10 St. James 56, Sidwell Friends 47

SIDWELL FRIENDS (47)

Friedman 6, Jenkins 16, Wood 13, Williams 3, Richardson 2, Ma 7. Totals 16 11-14 47.

ST. JAMES (56)

Scott 15, Keyes 15, Knotts 13, Monroe 9, Holzafel 1, Lelchtzki 3. Totals 18 18-33 56.

Sidwell Friends 913916-47

St. James13111616-56

Three-point goals - Sidwell Friends 4 (Friedman, Wood, Williams, Ma), St. James 2 (Keyes, Lelchtzki). Fouled out - Ma, Jenkins. Technical fouls - Keyes.

|

|

|