Saint John's Gets By Fitchburg with Ease

Shrewsbury, MA—Saint John’s rolled through the quarterfinals of the Central Mass State Tournament by defeating Fitchburg 81-50 with relative ease. Once Richard Rodgers (12 points) slammed home an emphatic dunk off a nice feed from David White (13 points), it was apparent the Red Raiders were in for a long night. Longtime head coach Bob Foley lauded the play of White and sheer athleticism of Rodgers.

“David really makes us go out there. He has a real knack of finding the rebound and starting the break. As for Richard, he is easily one of the most athletic guys I have ever had the privilege of coaching. He poses endless matchup problems for our opposition; he can do some special things with the basketball.”

Foley could not be more accurate with his assessment of Rodgers. Every time he has the ball in his hands there is a buzz throughout the crowd as they wonder what the next highlight he will showcase.

After being down by 10 points after the 1^st quarter, a manageable deficit to come back from considering the sharpshooting capabilities of Nom Luangkhene (13 points), Saint John’s took Fitchburg out of the game for good after outscoring the Red Raiders 23-8 in the second frame. Getting in the bonus towards the end of the first quarter certainly paid dividends for the Pioneers, as they were 14/22 from the charity stripe. Fitchburg head coach Paul DiGeronimo made it clear to the officiating crew he disproved of several of the calls, but give credit to the physical play from the Pioneers, especially David White who was 7/9 from the line for the quarter.

After cutting the lead from 27 points to 19 midway through the third quarter, Bennett Knowlton (19 points, 4 3-pointers) thwarted off any hope of a miracle comeback by connecting on two shots from downtown. “We are very good at getting points in transition, and going inside to both Richard and Chad [LaBove] (7 points), but Bennett does a great job extending the defense for us,” commented Foley.

The amount of deflections the Pioneers get on defense is ultimately what jumpstarts their offense; the first option is to run out on the break, while plan two is to pull it back and set up the half-court offense. With White and Rodgers running ahead of the pack, and Knowlton lurking behind the arc, the Pioneers truly have a deadly three-pronged attack. There is, after all, a reason they are 21-2 and the number one seed in the Central Mass State Tournament.

When asked what his team would have to do to get back to the championship, Foley responded like any other seasoned coach would: “I am just worried about getting past whoever were are playing at WPI on Sunday.”

Saint John’s has a date set with Marlboro on Sunday after the Panthers defeated Doherty 70-66. Saint John’s defeated Marlboro earlier this year by a score of 68-51. The winner of this semifinal game will go onto play the winner of Shrewsbury vs. Worcester North.