BARRINGTON — Day 1 of the annual St. Andrew’s School Holiday Classic boys’ basketball tournament Friday, Dec. 14, came to a close with the host Saints easily handling Christian Heritage by the score of 68-35 at Sage Gymnasium.

All 12 St. Andrew’s players scored at least a point in the contest, which saw the Saints improve to 7-0 on the young season. Tom Hunt led the locals with 13 points. Edson Dascy, John Geary and Andre Berry each added eight.

“Unfortunately we played an opponent that’s having a bit of down year, so it’s hard to take anything away from tonight,” St. Andrew’s coach Mike Hart said. “But at the same time I thought our guys made some good plays. I thought Tommy Hunt made some nice shots and I thought John Geary played well.”

The outcome never really in doubt, the Saints took control of the contest about five minutes into the first half. Their lead reached double digits for the first time (16-6) on an old-fashion three-point play by junior forward Bonzie Colson (7 points) with just over five minutes played.

Christian Heritage, from Trumbull, Conn., sliced the lead to single figures for a bit before Geary put home a layup to make the score 22-12 after Agyei Gregory (6 points) rebounded his own miss at the free throw line and dished for the assist.

Hunt then caught fire, sandwiching two 3-pointers around a steal and a layup to account for the next eight Saints’ points. St. Andrew’s pumped its lead to over 20 (33-12) for the first time when Tim Reale (6 points) drained a floater in the lane with just under two minutes remaining in the period.

The Saints took a 39-12 lead to intermission. Colson accounted for the final points of the first half on a layup in the waning seconds.

St. Andrew’s only added to its already sizable edge in the second half. Geary, the Saints’ smooth-shooting junior lefty, canned back-to-back triples to make the score 61-27 mid-way through the final stanza.

Chancellor Ellis (5 points) later hit from downtown to make the score 66-27. The Saints’ lead reached a night-high of 41 (68-27) on a Nikola Vukosavovic layup with just over four minutes to play.

St. Andrew’s sports two local entries on its roster this winter. Portsmouth resident and junior guard Henry Bolton, the Saints’ starting point guard, had two points in limited action Friday. East Providence native and 6-foot-6 freshman forward Terrell Brown made one of two free throws for his only point in the contest.

Cushing, Chrabascz win

Also of note locally from Friday, Portsmouth’s Andrew Chrabascz, a senior for Cushing Academy of Wilbraham, Mass., scored eight points in his team’s 78-37 victory over St. Mark’s. Chrabascz, the 6’7″ forward who led Portsmouth High to the 2010 Division II championship, has signed to play at Butler University next fall.

Cushing and Chrabascz open the second and final day of the St. Andrew’s Holiday Classic with a 12:30 p.m. start against Christian Heritage Saturday, Dec. 15. The host Saints bring the event to a close later in the evening with a 5:30 tip against St. Mark’s.

More notes

Providence College head coach Ed Cooley was among the many collegiate coaches to stop in at St. Andrew’s Friday. Representatives of Delaware, Assumption, Babson and Worcester Poly were also spotted in the crowd.

Former Saint Lamar Barrett, who went on the to play Division I college hoops for the fledgling Longwood (Va.) University club, has returned to St. Andrew’s as its Varsity II head coach.

The Saints have discarded their traditional red uniforms for black this season. Also, an auxiliary scoreboard has been added to the east wall of Sage Gym.

 

 

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