Sophomore Jonathan Peoples, ever respectful of his elders, didn’t take full credit for scoring 26 points in St. Joseph’s 63-60 victory Friday night at No. 18 St. Patrick.
“Tony and the rest told me to play hard,” Peoples, who made 6-of-7 three-pointers, said of fellow guard Tony Freeman and his teammates. “They were going to need me to play hard so I just played hard and gave all I got. When there is more pressure on Freeman, it will open me up.”
St. Patrick, the defending East Suburban Catholic champion, was more concerned about Freeman and senior Akeem Miskdeen, the Chargers’ top two scorers. Freeman had only seven points and Miskdeen 10, but the 6-foot-3-inch Peoples was open at the top of the key and made St. Pat’s pay in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score.
“We knew he was probably their second leading scorer and had an outstanding tournament at Schaumburg,” St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey said. “Now, do you expect a kid to come in here as a sophomore and hit 26? No. I don’t think he surprised us. I just think, to his credit, he played a great game.”
St. Joseph (3-1, 1-0) led from midway in the first period, when Peoples scored eight straight points to help the Chargers to a 14-7 edge. While Peoples was having a hot night from outside, St. Joseph did a good job holding down Shamrocks guards Matt Marino (11 points) and Dave Kleinschmidt (12). Kleinschmidt was held without a field goal until he hit two three-pointers in the game’s last 30 seconds.
The Chargers had four leads of 10 points or more in the second half, but St. Patrick, led by 6-7 Dan Bolger’s 20 points, wouldn’t fold. St. Patrick outscored St. Joseph, which was trying to run out the clock, 12-3 in the last two minutes.
St. Joseph took a 28-24 halftime lead after an 18-9 first-quarter lead was whittled down. Peoples spurred St. Joseph in the first half with some hot shooting, making 3-of-4 three-pointers.
In the second quarter Bolger made quite an impression in the scorebook. He scored eight points–the first six the Shamrocks (3-1, 0-1) had in the period–but also collected his second and third foul. St. Joseph increased its lead to 23-13 on a pair of Peoples baskets, but St. Patrick put together a 15-5 run down the stretch. A three-pointer by Mike Haiduc cut the margin to 28-24, and the Shamrocks also had the last shot, but a Marino jumper was off the mark.