A big night from Stanford signee Julius Price wasn’t enough for St. Joseph’s Knights (Santa Maria, Calif.) to advance out of the King Cotton Holiday Classic semifinals on Monday.
Faith Family Academy Eagles from Dallas outlasted St. Joseph 77-74 to advance to Tuesday’s championship game at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Tuesday’s schedule was not announced as of press time.
Price scored 39 points with eight rebounds, but his St. Joseph team never led. Faith Family shot 53.1% from the field and had five players score in double digits, led by Wake Forest signee Gallagher Placide’s 17 points and seven rebounds.
The Eagles made 18 of 24 free throws compared to the Knights’ 12 of 19. The Eagles’ win came despite the Knights making one more three-pointer and one more field goal.
Faith Family led by as much as 33-19 in the first half, but St. Joseph closed the half on a 10-2 run. Elijah Ormand scored a putback layup in the final seconds to cut St. Joseph’s deficit to 37-31 at halftime. Faith Family made five three-pointers in the first half to the St. Joseph’s two.
The Eagles grew their lead to 61-47 by the end of the third quarter, but the Knights fought back in the final minutes. An 11-0 run which included two three-pointers by Price’s brother, Malcolm, and a steal and score by Gunner Morinini cut Faith Family’s lead to 75-74 in the final minute.
A trip to the free throw line with 23.1 seconds left resulted in Faith Family making 1 of 2, leaving the door open for St. Joseph. The Knights’ game-tying layup didn’t go, and the ball went out off of St. Joseph. A missed free throw allowed the Knights to call timeout with 1.3 left and draw up a play down three, but the game-tying half-court attempt was no good.
