(St. Francis' Julian Cunningham finishes over Timon's Davion Warren)
When St. Francis went into Park and knocked off the NYS #1 team in Class A, it got everyone's attention. But for many, particularly those who weren't in attendance to witness it first hand, attention didn't necessarily translate into respect. Despite the road win, the Red Raiders continued to be ranked behind the Pioneers and there was a sense from many that they could never repeat that accomplishment. Or that they would turn around and lose to Timon the following week.
Before a packed house in St. Francis, the Red Raiders brought the intensity for four quarters and earned an exciting 69-62 victory over visiting Timon in the 'Game of the Week'. With the win, Frannies is now tied for first place in the MMA with Park, while the Tigers slip into second place with Canisius.
"We've been looking at this one on our schedule for awhile," St. Francis coach Brian Ferris said. "Timon at our place - it's a rivalry game, these guys were pumped up about it...I was pumped up about it."
Roburt Welch scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked two shots in the win. The senior may have been the most amped up among the Red Raiders who took the floor in the game, leaping for every rebound, playing passionate defense, diving for loose balls, and most importantly, keeping his head throughout an intense battle.
"We played really hard and prepared for this," Welch said. "We played our game and that's what we need to do to win."
Playing the Red Raiders' game included finding life difficult inside, particularly in the early going. During the first half, the Tigers scored just two points in the paint that didn't come in transition. Frannies did a great job of clogging the middle when Timon made it there and relentlessly went after every missed shot.
"It was definitely a focus of ours to make them run offense," Ferris said. "We had someone in the middle constantly taking away drives."
Devon Darrell connected from downtown early in the second quarter to give the Red Raiders a 16-13 lead as part of a 12-0 run. Sean Taggart scored twice during that stretch, once on an assists from Julian Cunningham, and Welch added a nice put-back score. The spurt gave St. Francis a 10-point lead and they never trailed again in the game.
"That team is extremely disciplined and they do exactly what their coach asks on both ends," Timon coach Des Randall said. "I thought more so than us not making shots, they just outworked us. They brought the fight to us and wanted it more."
After taking a 30-24 lead into halftime, St. Francis began to find its stroke from long range in the third quarter. Cunningham struck immediately to extend the lead to 33-24. A 7-0 run from Timon followed and it seemed the Tigers were ready to bring the fight right back at the hosts. However a basket by Welch was followed by a Connor Cummings 3-pointer. Just 22 seconds later, Cummings banged another one. Bo Sireika added another on the team's next series, and saw his second of the half fall late in the frame. In all, St. Francis knocked down five treys in the stanza.
"Connor Cummings came off the bench and hit two right away and everyone else followed," Ferris said.
"That's who they are and they know who they are - they can shoot the ball," Randall said. "It's hard to trade twos for threes."
Timon cut the deficit to two points, 47-45, on a pair of free throws by Joe Harrison two minutes into the fourth quarter. Darrell came right back with his second bomb of the night in response, and it sparked a 9-3 stretch that took the St. Francis lead back to 56-48. When Timon cut the Red Raiders' lead back to three points, Cunningham let a big 3-pointer fly and drew nothing but net for a 61-55 lead with under two minutes on the clock. The Tigers got back within two points with 35 seconds left in the game, but St. Francis sealed the victory by sinking its last eight free throw attempts.
"Everyday we talk about playing consistent and they did a great job focusing on that today," Ferris said. "Hopefully it's something we can build off of."
Cunningham finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Sireika also scored 12 points. Taggart had eight points and eight rebounds in the win.
Warren led Timon with a game-high 23 points on the evening, while Harrison added 20 points.
"We need to do a better job of staying composed and realize we don't have to get it all back at once," Randall said.
The victory for St. Francis was the first against Timon in the coaching career of Brian Ferris, now in his fifth season with the team. It snapped a 14-game skid against their rivals, a streak that dated back to 2010.
"We've played them tough but just haven't put it together," said Ferris. "It's nice to get one from them - brings back memories of when I played and we beat them here in 2000."
The Red Raiders are at Niagara Catholic on Monday, while Timon visits St. Mary's that night night.
Timon 9 - 15 - 19 - 19 = 62
St. Francis 11 - 19 - 17 - 22 = 69
Point Totals
St. Francis: Roburt Welch 21, Julian Cunningham 14, Bo Sireika 12, Devon Darrell 8, Sean Taggart 8, Connor Cummings 6
Timon: Davion Warren 23, Joe Harrison 20, Juston Johnson 9, Tim Payne 4, Jayon Renfro 2, Jaurney Boyland 2, Master Radford 2
- centercourt
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