LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — St. Francis boys basketball coach Todd Wolfson said his team started the year as underdogs and was doubted throughout the season. But the team persisted through the adversity of a COVID layoff and having to play 10 games in 15 days in January just to make sure it had a good enough resume in case it needed an at-large spot in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
The Golden Knights ended up automatically qualifying for the playoffs with a third-place finish in the Mission League and rattled off two big wins heading into the quarterfinals against a tough and talented JSerra squad that won its first two playoff games by an average of nearly 24 points.
St. Francis held a fourth quarter lead before JSerra stormed back with a late surge Friday to pull away for a 65-56 win.
JSerra (18-9) will play at St. John Bosco in the semifinals on Tuesday. The Lions also qualified for the state playoffs that begin in early March.
St. Francis (25-6) led 52-50 with 6:10 remaining in the game when Jake Goldberg scored on a layup. After using a timeout, the Lions came out roaring and went on a 9-0 scoring spurt to take a 59-52 lead.
JSerra didn’t let the Golden Knights get within five points after that run.
The decisive run was sparked by sophomore point guard Aidan Fowler, who finished with 20 points. He scored seven of those points during the run. He started it by burying a 3-pointer to give JSerra a 53-52 lead.
He later stole the ball at midcourt from Jackson Mosley and raced down for a layup to put JSerra up 57-52. Fowler then hit a 19-foot jumper to cap the run.
“It’s hard with this crowd and atmosphere,” JSerra coach Keith Wilkinson said about pulling out a win on the road. “The emotions get ramped up, and I just wanted the players to keep their cool and play our brand without getting too riled up. They did a good of executing and kind of settled down a bit.”
That brand of basketball pushes the tempo on offense with quick passes, aggressive driving to the basket and kick outs for open 3s. Wolfson said his team had a tough time countering the Lions scoring in the final quarter.
“We ran out of gas,” Wolfson said. “Our bench is short. We were playing a lot of games and a lot of minutes. All of a sudden our shots were short. It usually means tired legs.”
St. Francis was led once again by senior Buckley DeJardin. He scored 23 points after an 18-point clutch performance on Tuesday in a 53-49 win over Heritage Christian. DeJardin scored 10 points in the third quarter to push St. Francis to a 45-40 lead halfway through the quarter and a 48-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Goldberg, who’s also a senior, scored 13 points. Wolfson praised the two for their hard work throughout their years in the program.
“They’re leaving their legacy with the program.”
Wilkinson noticed their contributions too.
“(St. Francis) came out (after halftime) and hit some tough shots,” he said. “(DeJardin) and (Goldberg) are really good players. They compete at a high level.”
Aside from Fowler, JSerra was led by Robert Diaz who scored a game-high 26 points. He scored inside and outside, hitting three 3s. His 21-footer at the top of the key early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 48.
“He’s our senior leader,” Wilkinson said of Diaz. “He’s a competitor. He’s tough and he really willed us to a win with some unbelievable plays, not just scoring but setting guys up.”
The Golden Knights will return three starters next season in Mosley, Luke McGrath and Brandin Dantzler who are all juniors. They also get back their first player off the bench, George Tupy, who’s also a junior.
“As much as I want to think about next year I want to honor the four seniors who are walking away and give them the credit they deserve,” Wolfson said of Goldberg, DeJardin, Ben Ferguson and Myron Longhurst. “They’re going to come back years from now and see the impact they made.”