St. Francis basketball continues historic playoff run to state title game
LA CAÑADA — Book those reservations for Sacramento.
There will be a local team making the trip north for the first time in program history.
Backed by some more clutch baskets down the stretch from Andre Henry and some sharp three-point shooting from Frederick Harper, the historic season continues for the St. Francis High basketball team.
Henry finished with a game-high 17 points and Harper contributed 13 points and a had a late key offensive rebound to lift No. 1 St. Francis to a 53-44 home victory against No. 6 Eastvale Roosevelt on Tuesday in the CIF State Division II Southern California Regional championship game.
St. Francis (30-8) will make its first appearance in a state title game when it meets Northern California representative Stockton Weston Ranch at 4 p.m. Saturday at Golden I Center in Sacramento. Weston Ranch, the No. 4 seed in the Northern California, registered a 62-61 win against No. 2 Vallejo St. Patrick-Vincent on Tuesday in the Northern California Regional title contest.
“There’s no easy path [to the championship game],” said St. Francis fifth-year coach Todd Wolfson, whose team took third in the Mission League and reached the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA championship contest in February. “We’ve had some close games along the way and when you start five seniors, you’ve got to expect to close it out.
“We’ve been able to make the big plays to end games and that happened again.”
In front of a raucous packed house, the Golden Knights held a 46-44 lead when the UC Irvine-bound Henry completed a three-point play to make it 49-44 with 1:28 left in the game.
Harper made it 51-44 when he grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a layup to give St. Francis, in its first state playoffs since 2014, a 51-44 advantage with 41 seconds remaining.
“We’ve been in all of these close games in state and we just want it more,” said Henry, who added eight rebounds, four assists three steals and two blocks. “We’re not the biggest team, but we are the hardest working team and it’s been showing.
“It’s great to get to state and it feels good to win my last game on our home court. We just want to finish it off.”
It marked the second time St. Francis topped Roosevelt (27-9) in the postseason. The Golden Knights rolled to a 60-33 semifinal road win in the Southern Section Division II-AA semifinals on Feb. 21.
Roosevelt, which finished second in the Big VIII League, looked like a vastly different opponent Tuesday. The Mustangs held a 20-16 lead after the first quarter and nearly overcame a 42-33 deficit heading into the fourth quarter,
“They have a well-coached team and we expected a different team,” said Wolfson, who guided Chaminade to a state title in 2014. “We got every part of that.”
Harper went to work in the second quarter, making three consecutive three-pointers. His third gave the Golden Knights a 33-24 lead with 1:32 to go in the first half. St. Francis outscored Roosevelt, 17-4, in the second quarter to build a 33-24 halftime advantage.
“It felt amazing to make those shots with the crowd behind me,” Harper said. “You want to let it go.
“One of the biggest emphasis is to rebound. I was able to get to it [in the fourth quarter] and score.”
St. Francis, which earlier earned state victories against No. 16 Carlsbad, No. 9 Birmingham and No. 12 Oxnard, received eight points from Kai Glassen.
The Mustangs got 11 points from Paul Ezanyim, 10 from Godfrey Little and eight from CJ Bellamy.
Roosevelt beat No. 11 El Cajon Christian, No. 14 Salesian and No. Los Angeles King/Drew in the state tournament.
