Wildcats capture Riverside tourney
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 2, 2001
Michael Kiral
RESERVE – St. James made nine of 10 free throws in the final 1:30 to hold off a West St. John rally, capturing the Riverside Tournament championship with a 78-70 victory Friday night.
Justin Aubert scored a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats (8-2) and was named to the all-tournament team. Stevenson Jones added 15 points and Derrick Williams 14. Henry Washington had 11 points in being named the MVP of the tournament.
Aaron Sylvain led West St. John with 20 points. Devin Herbert scored 18 points in being named all-tournament. Dwayne Bastain was also named all- tournament after scoring 12 points.
St. James took a 47-42 lead into the fourth quarter and extended it to 54- 44 with 6:30 left as Levar Joseph converted a three-point play off a steal and Williams scored on a put back. A put back by Aubert made it 60-49 midway through the quarter.
Sylvain started the Rams comeback with a put back and two free throws. Kermit Bethancourt then took a steal in to cut the deficit to 60-55. After Jones pushed the lead back to 63-55 with a three-point play with 3:17 left, Herbert hit three-of-four free throws to bring the Rams to within 63-60 at the 2:17 mark.
St. James answered on the next possession as Williams found Aubert underneath. A jumper and two free throws by Aubert made it 69-60 with 1:29 remaining. West St. John again cut the deficit to 73-68 on a put back by Sylvain with 21 seconds left but Erron Hickerson and Washington hit two free throws apiece and Aubert one down the stretch.
“I think we did a good job of shooting free throws down the stretch,” St. James head coach Lionel Ezidore said. “Weve been playing pretty good ball the whole year. The two games we lost have gone down to the wire.”
St. James led 32-27 at the half before seeing West St. John cut the deficit to 34-33 on a drive by Herbert. The Wildcats answered with three-point plays by Aubert and Washington to grab a 40-33 lead with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter. The Rams again rallied as Bastain buried two jumpers and scored on a drive to make it 42-39. St. James came right back with a 3- pointer from the top of the key by Washington and a put back by Williams to make it 47-42 at the end of the quarter.
West St. John took an early 12-7 lead on a 3-pointer by Bethancourt and a put back by Sylvain. After St. James closed to within one on a put back by Williams, Davin Farnell took a steal in for a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Williams scored on a dunk off a steal by Washington to give the Wildcats a 17-16 lead with 5:56 left in the half. Josh Lumar hit a jumper and scored inside to give the Rams a 21-20 lead. Two free throws by Herbert made it a three-point game. But the Wildcats came back with a layup by Jones and a tip in by Williams to take a three-point lead of their own. Then with time running out, Aubert banked in a one-hander to make it 32-27 at the half.
