After playing a forgettable first half in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs at home on Friday night, St. Anthony boys’ basketball responded with one of its best quarters of the season.
The Saints (20-7) trailed by 10 points at halftime but proceeded to outscore the Warriors 33-13 in the third quarter on their way to a 90-77 victory.
“They came out ready to play and prove they weren’t ready to go home,” St. Anthony coach Allen Caveness said. “We weren’t competing. Either we were going to step up and fight, or it was going to be the end of our season.”
St. Anthony senior forward sparked the third-quarter run with a transition dunk on his way to a team-high 22 points. Fellow senior Frank Staine scored 21 points, and guard Josh Belvin scored all 20 of his points in the second half.
“Me and the other seniors got together (at halftime) and said we don’t want our season to end right now,” Belvin said. “We just picked it up from there. This is a very big win. We’re missing one of our starters (Gorden Boykins) he’s at a wedding right now. So playing without him and winning is big.”
The Saints travel to Riverside Poly on Tuesday for the second round.
