STAB needed a shot to finish off St. Christopher’s and with Chance Mallory on the shelf with a foot injury suffered Friday night, that left one most likely option at guard for the Saints — John St. Germain.
With about 11 seconds left to go in the game, John St. Germain brought the ball up the court with game tied 51-51.
“At first, I was going to drive and give it off to Carter (Lang) for a layup,” said St. Germain. “But as soon as they doubled him, and I faded away, something in my head told me to shoot it.”
St. Germain buried the shot and in turn lifted the Saints to a 53-51 victory in the Prep League on a sensational buzzer-beater to win their first Prep League tournament title since 2016.
During the first quarter, St. Christopher’s was communicating well defensively which forced STAB to take poor shots, and STAB had a difficult time finding and hitting shots. St. Christopher’s also largely neutralized STAB’s Carter Lang who usually provides a lot of size and physicality for STAB.
St. Christopher’s dominated STAB in second quarter, outscoring them by eight points in the frame. STAB had no answers for St. Christopher on offense or defense going into halftime.
Coming out of halftime, STAB flipped a switch and St. Germain attributed it to his teams’ improved play on the defensive end.
“Defensive-wise, we had to pack the line,” St. Germain said. “We know they like to set screens and roll hard, so we just hard hedged them, and got them out. Offensively we just took advantage of our mismatches.”
On the offensive side for STAB, Lang made his presence and physicality felt. Lang posted up, usually on smaller St. Christopher players, and either finished or kicked out to a shooter who would knock down a shot. The big posted 13 points, hauled down a ton of rebounds and was a big part of STAB’s comeback win. Austin Wiliford also played solid basketball, finishing with 13 points for STAB.
But, no one was more responsible for STAB’s comeback win than St. Germain. St. Germain repeatedly made tough finish after tough finish and found ways to lead his team to victory. Even when St. Christopher would hit threes on the other end, St. Germain answered on his side of the court. Essentially for the last half of the fourth quarter, St, Germain went bucket for bucket with the entire St. Christopher roster and finished with 17 points for the game.
St. Anne’s-Belfield will next play in the VISAA Division I tournament next week with brackets to be announced Sunday.
