St. John's Holds on For Win
July 31, 2012 At Saugus High School, St. John's took on Saugus II in the opener of a double header. St. John's led at the half and then withstood a late Sachem comeback to hold on for a 42-41 win.
St. John's trailed early until an Alex Cormier 3-pointer tied the game at the 12:20 mark. After a made Saugus free throw, Patrick Kennedy gave St. John's its first lead with a 3-pointer with 10:30 left in the half which ignited an 11-0 run. After a Travis Thurman 3-pointer with 5:40 left, St. John's had extended the lead to double digits. A late Saugus run cut the lead to 19-14 at the half.
Saugus cut the lead to just two points early in the second half before St. John's came alive. Owen O'Brien got things going with a jumper to push the lead back to five and then Nick Scibelli extended the lead on a pass from Bailey Kennedy to make it 29-22 in favor of St. John's. Things seemed to be pretty much in control after a Travis Thurman basket was followed by a Brian Jean-Francois bucket off an offensive rebound made it 40-32 with 1:40 left in the game. But Saugus wasn't through. Thurman would score the last basket of the game for St. John's with 1:05 left to make it 42-36. Five straight Saugus points made the game interesting, but St. John's held on for the win.
Travis Thurman had 13 points and Patrick Kennedy added 11 rebounds to lead St. John's to the win.
St. John's Settles for Split
July 31, 2012 At Saugus High School, St. John's took on Saugus III in the second game of a double header. St. John's trailed by seven at the half and simply ran out of energy as they dropped their second game of the night 57-50.
Alex Cormier was hot early. He scored a basket and followed with a 3-pointer to give St. John's an early lead at the 15:09 mark. But Saugus would answer with seven straight points to retake the lead. An Owen O'Brien jumper followed by a Travis Thurman 3-pointer made it 13-11 St. John's with 10:30 left in the half. Saugus then slowly started to take command as they opened up a six point lead. Brian Jean-Francois cut it to 27-23 with 2:16 to go before Saugus added a 3-pointer to enter the half up 30-23.
St. John's came out on fire to start the second half. Nick Scibelli's 3-pointer at the 14 minute mark gave them the lead back at 34-32. Jean-Francois followed assisted by Alex Cormier to cap a 13-2 run and give St. John's a four point lead. But Saugus simply had too much left. Three straight 3-pointers were part of a 12-0 spurt to put the game away.
Travis Thurman led St. John's with 14 points. Alex Cormier had 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in the loss. St. John's takes on Beverly in an opening round play-off game Tuesday night.
