Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Oak Hill rallies past St. John Bosco, 66-59; moves on to title game


  



Fri, Dec 19, 2014 @ Iolani


Final 1 2 3 4  
Oak Hill 12 13182366
St. John Bosco 12 18 14 1559
SEASON LEADERS
Vance Jackson 20.0 ppg  10 3pm  72.7 FT%
Dwayne Bacon 15.7 ppg  3 3pm  75.0 FT%

Dwayne Bacon scored 15 of his team-high 23 points in the second half and No. 3 Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) rallied past St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), 66-59, Friday night in the semifinals of the Iolani Classic.

The Warriors will play No. 11 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) for the 30th Classic championship, 8 p.m. Saturday at Iolani in a battle of nationally ranked teams by USA Today.

Oak Hill is seeking its fifth Classic title and first since 2010. The Warriors are 33-2 in their ninth Classic appearance.

Vance Jackson led the Braves with a game-high 25 points, including three of his team's eight 3-pointers. Rodney Henderson followed with 18 points.

The teams were tied at 12 after the first quarter, then the Braves took control in the second and third quarters. St. John Bosco widened its lead to 30-25 on Jackson's 3-pointer before the half. The Braves made only five field goals in the third, but four were 3-pointers, two by Jackson to keep them in front, 44-43, entering the fourth quarter.

Bacon opened the fourth with a layup to give the Warriors a 45-44 lead, only to see Henderson follow with a reverse layup to put the Braves back in front 46-45. But Bacon ignited a 9-0 run that put the Warriors back in control less than two minutes into the quarter.

"We struggled against their zone in the first half," Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. "We were 2 for 12 from 3 in the first half. We had wide-open looks. I told the kids, if you take it, you have to make it and we weren't making them so that put us in a hole."

The Warriors played better defensively in the second half. "We got some steals and were more active," Smith said. "That got us some transition baskets."

With Bacon and Terrence Phillips getting called for their fourth fouls at 5:55 and 5:40, respectively, the Warriors began slowing down the pace, essentially stalling by looking for safe shots. The Braves would pull to with 58-54 with 3:17 left. Oak Hill called time with 2:19 left then returned to action with four consecutive points, the latter two coming by Bacon off of a steal. Later in the quarter, another steal by Bacon turned into a layup by Hampton to make it 66-56 with under a minute to play. Joseph Tate converted a three-point play with 28 seconds left to finish the scoring of the game.

"He stepped it up," Smith said of Bacon's second-half performance. "He didn't play well in the first half. I tried to challenge him at halftime. He has to step up and play. He's our best player. The game's on the line. I thought he played really well in the fourth quarter."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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