Big fourth lifts St. Ed past VASJ

A defensive tweak was all St. Edward needed to turn a tie game into a double-digit win at Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Jan. 27.

Eagles coach Eric Flannery called a timeout with a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter. St. Edward deployed its trapping, zone pressure and found its 3-point stroke to hang 39 points on the Vikings in an 85-69 victory.

The Eagles forced turnovers on successive possessions to stretch their lead from two to eight points in seconds.

The Vikings’ coach assigned blame to himself for St. Edward’s outburst. To better initiate offense, Babe Kwasniak sent senior point guard Jerry Higgins down the floor and had his younger teammates bring the ball up.

Later, Kwasniak lamented the choice to not have Higgins handle the ball against pressure.

“That’s on me,” Kwasniak said. “That’s my fault. If we’re going to make that mistake, it shouldn’t have been a freshman. The ball should’ve been in his hands, he deserves to make that mistake.”

St. Edward outscored VASJ, 29-13, in the final minutes.

The Eagles have won 20 of their last 22 games against VASJ, and have never lost to the Vikings in Kwasniak’s tenure.

A group with more experience may have finished Kwasniak’s first win against St. Edward.

“That would be pretty arrogant to say that since I’ve never beat Ed’s,” Kwasniak said. “It’s hard for me to say. Let’s put it this way, I think if I don’t make that mistake the game comes down to the end.”

Higgins led all scorers with 30 points and freshman Jaden Hameed scored 14.

Devontae Blanton paced five St. Edward players in double-figures with 15 points. Montorie Foster finished with 14 points, Grant Huffman and Patrick Flannery scored 13 apiece and Emmett Chambers chipped in 12.

Higgins and Hameed helped VASJ take a 15-12 lead in the first quarter. Demetrius Terry’s 3-pointer gave St. Edward a 20-19 edge headed to the second.

The Eagles’ frontcourt, namely Chambers, created second chances on many of St. Edward’s missed shots. Despite struggles at the free throw line, St. Edward led, 35-30, at halftime.

Higgins responded with 11 points in the third. VASJ closed the period on a 15-4 run to take a 49-46 lead into the fourth. Higgins opened with a 3-pointer to

PATRICK HOPKINS — THE NEWS-HERALD Montorie Foster of St. Edward dribbles against Graham Koppleman (12) while Jerry Higgins tries to fight through a screen Jan. 27 at VASJ.