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St. Francis guard Raheem Brown drives to the hoop during Friday's game against Central Catholic.
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St. Francis basketball edges Central Catholic with late blocked shot

THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR

St. Francis basketball edges Central Catholic with late blocked shot

St. Francis de Sales and Central Catholic added another chapter to their longstanding basketball rivalry history on Friday night at Central Catholic’s Sullivan Center, this one the first matchup with both teams playing in Michigan’s Catholic High School League.

Knights junior guard Raheem Brown blocked a last-second 3-point attempt from Irish sophomore guard Manny Johnson to help the Knights escape with a 43-41 victory in a tense finish.

“We knew it was going to him for the last shot,” Brown said. “I was guarding him and he came down and tried to do a crossover and settled for a 3-pointer, and I blocked it and that was the game.”

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Brown and senior forward Vince Ferguson paced St. Francis (4-1, 1-1 CHSL) with 12 points each, while senior point guard Jameson Heck added 10 points.

Central Catholic (1-1, 0-1) got 12 points from freshman Isaiah Mack-Russell and 11 points from senior Isaiah Brenneman.

St. Francis led for much of the game, and, after Central Catholic closed to within a point in the third quarter, the Knights responded with a quick 9-0 run led by several steals and layups from Brown that made it 34-24 midway through the third.

Central Catholic closed out the third quarter well, and after Dre Wardrop converted a drive and layup late in the quarter, the Irish trailed 36-33 heading into the fourth.

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St. Francis saw Heck and starting center Alan Horton each pick up their fourth foul early in the final quarter, and Horton eventually fouled out with 3:21 left.

The Knights continued to hold a 3-point lead late, but Central Catholic came up with a key steal with 45 seconds remaining. After a few timeouts over the course of the next possession, the Irish executed a play that got Mack-Russell the ball in the post. He finished a layup with eight seconds left to cut the St. Francis lead to 42-41.

Heck was fouled with 5.6 seconds remaining but was only able to make 1 of 2 from the free-throw line.

That set up the final play, when Johnson dribbled the length of the court but was unable to get his final attempt off cleanly as Brown contested.

“I thought we had good toughness and poise down the stretch,” St. Francis coach Jamie Kachmarik said. “They changed up defenses and went zone, but our guys handled it. We took a couple minutes off in the fourth quarter with our lead, which I thought we did a really good job with that. We had one turnover late. Last week against St. John's we were up 3 late and had three straight possessions with turnovers, which cost us the game. With us it's a toughness thing, and we were able to grind it out.”

Central Catholic scored 18 of its 41 points from the foul line and trailed 15-5 after one quarter as the Irish made just one shot from the field in the opening quarter.

“We have to convert on the offensive end,” Irish coach Mike Floyd said. “I thought we came out a little flat, as well, and that's on us as a staff. We just didn't have them ready to go. We kind of played right into their hands as far as what they wanted the tempo and the pace of the game to be. The score needed to be in the high 50s or 60s for us to get it done, and we weren't able to do that.”

The final play of the game happened quickly, and while there were some shouts for a foul from the home crowd, the referees ultimately did not see cause for a whistle.

“I think he was kind of falling down a little bit, so it was kind of a low shot,” Kachmarik said. “So, I don't think there was a foul, but who knows? It's the end of the game. I couldn't see it real well. I was down at the other end, I think praying. It's tough for a referee to call it and it could go either way. This time it went our way.”

First Published December 16, 2023, 3:51 a.m.

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St. Francis guard Raheem Brown drives to the hoop during Friday's game against Central Catholic.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
Central Catholic's Isaiah Brenneman drives to the hoop during Friday's game against St. Francis.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
St. Francis guard Elvis Syroka brings the ball up the court against Central Catholic on Friday.  (THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR)  Buy Image
THE BLADE/JONATHAN AGUILAR
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