Edgar Melik-Stepanyan
For an entire half, St. Francis High basketball Coach John Jordan
shouted at his players to get the ball inside to 6-foot-4 center
Kevin Peterson.
It took two quarters and a wake-up call provided by Maranatha, but
the Golden Knights, playing without standout Chris Johnson, finally
headed their coach's words.
The Golden Knights' offense ran through Peterson in the second
half, and he had no problem leading his team in its season opener.
Peterson scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half,
as St. Francis defeated the Minutemen, 53-31, on Thursday in a
first-round game of the Pasadena Poly Tournament.
"Kevin is getting to be one of the better post players in the
area," said Jordan, whose squad plays San Marino or Oakwood at 6 p.m.
in today's semifinal.
"He didn't have enough touches in the first half. In the third
quarter, we did a good job of getting him the ball.
"From an offensive standout, Russell Fujimoto [who had eight
points and six assists] and Kevin gave us a little spurt."
St. Francis needed someone to provide energy to its offense in the
second half.
It committed 10 turnovers in the opening 16 minutes, and looked
out of sync without Johnson, an All-Area second-team selection last
season who sprained his ankle in practice Saturday and will likely
miss a week.
Maranatha (1-3), the tournament's defending champion, kept the
game close, trailing 20-18, with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter.
But that's when the Golden Knights started playing to their
potential.
They went on a 20-2 run the next 13 minutes, highlighted by
Peterson's eight points. Fujimoto produced all of his points and
assists in the second half
"We just got their zone to open up a little bit and got inside,"
said Peterson, who also grabbed 10 rebounds. "We started making our
shots and got into a bit of a rhythm."
St. Francis also limited Maranatha's fast-break and second-chance
opportunities. The Minutemen had three rebounds in the second half,
including two in the third quarter, when they scored four points.
Maranatha was also just one of eight (12.5%) from the field in the
third quarter. Danny Butare paced his team with 10 points, nine in
the first half. Teammate Durand Reeves had eight points.
St. Francis' Dean Grimes contributed 10 points and five rebounds,
Steve Polchow added seven points and Robbie Orlandini had five.
"We have a ways to go, but overall I was pleased with what we
did," Jordan said.
