By Eric Wilson
The St. Paul boys basketball team lost to Frontenac 79-57 Thursday, Jan. 12, after a strong Raider second half.
The game was originally scheduled to be played Friday, Jan. 13, but was moved up due to the ice storm approaching the southeast Kansas area.
In the first quarter, the Indians were able to break Frontenac’s press fairly easily. After breaking the press, St. Paul found a way to get to the rim and either score or get fouled.
After the first, they trailed 11-17.
In the second quarter, Brenden Doherty led the charge for the Indians. Scoring 11 points in the second, Doherty was able to keep the Indians in the ballgame as Frontenac continued to find ways to the basket. Doherty also shot seven for seven from the free throw line in the second quarter.
Frontenac took a 38-30 lead to the locker room for halftime.
In the third, the Raiders found a way to pull away. Outscoring the Indians 20-8 in the quarter, Frontenac picked up their pressure and forced the Indians to turn the ball over. Heading into the fourth, the score sat at 58-38 in Frontenac’s favor.
In the fourth, Frontenac started to play some younger players and St. Paul was able to take advantage early on. However, Frontenac’s free throw shooting and transition offense proved to be too much for the Indians.
When the final buzzer sounded, Frontenac had earned a 79-57 victory.
Doherty led the Indians in scoring with a whopping 30 points on the night. These 30 points included a perfect 13 for 13 from the free throw line and three three-pointers.
Braven Born added eight points, while Jace McCracken recorded six.
With the loss, St. Paul moves to a 5-3 record on the year.
The Indians will be back in action next week when they travel to Cherokee the play in the Southeast-Lancer Classic mid-season tournament. St. Paul begins the tourney Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. versus Baxter Springs.