Cardinal Spellman held a double-digit lead much of the way Saturday afternoon, but a victory against St. John’s Prep was suddenly in question when the Red Storm went on a furious rally, cutting their deficit to just two points with 35.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Pilots needed someone to step up and Anthony Williams answered the call. The sophomore forward played the part of closer, hitting three clutch foul shots down the stretch to secure a 52-47 CHSAA Class A win Saturday afternoon in The Bronx.
“We started losing our composure a little bit. I didn’t want to lose the game so I tried my best to get us back on top,” Williams said. “I wanted to put us back on top because I knew I could make the free throws.”
Williams is a big part of the Pilots future, but of late he’s been a huge part of their present, too, helping lead Spellman (5-9, 2-7 A-Central) to consecutive wins for the first time this season.
“He can really shoot it, he’s great against the zone, but he’s starting to get more and more confident every game,” Spellman coach Fred Opper said. “He’s going to be a heck of a player. The last few games he’s really been lighting it up.”
Against the Red Storm, Williams enjoyed his best game of the season, scoring a team-high 20 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. His foul-line jumper with 5:16 left put Cardinal Spellman in front, 45-30. The Pilots largest lead was 23 when they opened the second half on a 12-1 run capped by a Williams putback.
“Their zone was giving us the middle and we were getting easy cuts to the foul line,” Opper said. “We moved the ball pretty good and when they were in man, the pick and roll on top was really working pretty easily for us.”
But then St. John’s Prep (3-12, 1-10 A-South) roared back. While Ryan Yearwood, who finished with a game-high 28 points, scored 20 of his team’s first 24 points, he wasn’t a one-man show during the Red Storm’s furious 17-4 fourth-quarter run.
On an old-fashioned 3-point play by James Pinchback, St. John’s was within 49-47 with 35.3 seconds left.
“We made some shots,” St. John’s Prep coach Darius Penikas said. “Just to see the ball go in the hole energized us.”
But the Red Storm wasn’t able to overcome their slow start, which included seven missed layups and shooting 1-of-13 from the foul line in the first half.
“They’re great kids, they represent the school well and they’re getting better,” Penikas said. “But to take that next step in terms of winning these games they have to put everything together – the free throw shooting, the layups, all that stuff.”
And Cardinal Spellman, which also received 11 points from Kenny Ruiz and nine from Luke Owen, needs to close out games better. But Opper was just relieved his team was able to pull out a victory.
“They did a great job, made a heckuva comeback and played with a lot of energy,” Opper said of St. John’s Prep. “I won’t say its fun to coach these games because I’d like to breathe down the stretch a bit. But a win is a win.”