by Andrew Straub

St. Vincent Pallotti upped their MIAA B Conference win streak to three games after a decisive 85-53 victory over struggling St. Paul’s School, Saturday, on the Panthers' Sister Karen Court.

Junior guard Leon Porter led the balanced Pallotti attack with 15 points, and four other players scored in double-figures.  Freshman guard Nigel Sydnor scored 14 points to lead the Crusaders (7-7, 1-5).  

Leading 39-22 at the half, the Panthers (8-6, 4-5) opened the third quarter with a 17-2 scoring run, capitalized by senior forward Ryan Cook’s one-handed dunk.  The Crusaders never could recover from the deficit, as the Pallotti press suffocated the inexperienced offense and created numerous turnovers.

“We like to press and get after them defensively. That is our motto every game,” said Panthers head coach Shae Johnson. “We work hard on defense and let the offense take care of itself.”

Pallotti, which has earned the top MIAA B Conference playoff seed each of the last three years, continues to heat up with their fifth win in their last six games.  On the other end of the spectrum, St. Paul’s has now dropped its last five games.  

With the upcoming MIAA B Conference playoffs less than a month away, Palotti needs to continue to win in order to clinch a playoff bid.  Johnson believes this can happen if the Panthers remain focused.

“We haven’t had a great start this year.  But, I feel like if we come out every game and finish the way we are supposed to then maybe we can make it to the playoffs,” he said.  “We can’t joke around during the course of a game, we have to finish the game strong.”

St. Vincent Pallotti 85, St. Paul’s School 53
St. Paul’s School: Johnston 2, Sydnor 14, McCray 4, Code 14, Willis 9, Riehl 5, Larkin 2, Murphy 3.
St. Vincent Pallotti: Flynn 12, Cook 12, Porter 15, Washington 10, Cavallo 10, Riley 5, Estrill 5, Woody 2, Flowers 4, Murphy 7, Willis 3.
Half: St. Vincent Pallotti, 39-22.