St. Paul knocks down Crest

By Camden McFarland

camden@hometowngirard.com

After defeating Yates Center last Friday, Feb. 16, the St. Paul Indians’ girls and boys basketball teams moved on to face Crest in their last regular-season game Thursday, Feb. 22.

In the girls’ game, St. Paul and Crest stayed in reach of each other through the first half but the Lady Indians’ steady fight overpowered Crest in the long run.

St. Paul outscored Crest 10-9 in the first quarter, hinting that this would not be an easy victory for the Lady Indians.

Through the second quarter, Crest continued to stay right behind St. Paul as the Lady Indians moved their lead to two points.

With a 22-20 lead at the half, St. Paul amped up their intensity to further their lead by scoring 12 in the third quarter and allowing Crest to score only six.

The Lady Indians remained persistent through the fourth quarter to pull through with a 50-37 victory, moving their overall record to 18-2.

Katelin O’Brien and Sydney Rice led St. Paul’s offense in this matchup, scoring 18 and 14 points, respectively.

On the boys’ side, St. Paul had no issue controlling Crest to seal the victory with ease.

In the first quarter, the Indians set the tone of the game by capturing a strong nine-point lead of 20-11.

Again in the second quarter, St. Paul controlled the court to score 24 more points and allow Crest just seven points.

St. Paul locked down in the second half and Crest could not keep up. After outscoring Crest again in the third quarter, St. Paul held the lead with a score of 63-22.

The Indians finished up the game with a score of 74-33, improving their overall record to 12-8.

Brenden Doherty led St. Paul’s offense throughout the night with 24 individual points, bringing him in reach of the 1000 point goal.