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3A: Benilde 100, Patrick Henry 70
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The 20 or so Benilde-St. Margaret's fans sitting in the school's spring break-depleted student section felt empowered enough to deliver a Bronx cheer when the Red Knights' opponent scored a basket in Thursday's Class 3A boys' basketball semifinals.
BSM star Jordan Taylor giggled on the bench when a teammate was faked out of his shorts by a crossover move late in the game.
It was that kind of night for top-seeded BSM and Minneapolis Henry, with the Red Knights jumping out to a 29-3 lead en route to a dominant 100-70 victory and a berth in Saturday's state title game.
"We wanted to put our foot on their throat and not let up," Taylor said.
Mission accomplished. Armond Battle led four players in double figures with a game-high 21 points. Matt Thomas, who came into the tournament as a 40 percent three-point shooter, made five of six from long range in the first half -- including a trio of treys in the final 57 seconds of the half to officially confirm that the Red Knights were, in fact, unconscious from the field. They shot 22-for-32 (68.8 percent) in the half and had 11 assists to go with only three turnovers in taking a 56-27 lead into the break.
Taylor, who scored 43 points in Wednesday's quarterfinals, had 19 while playing only 21 minutes Thursday. Battle checked out for good with 6:26 left, and BSM's reserves handled the last six minutes of the game.
Louis Cox had 20 points to lead Henry (20-11), but Mandela Jackson was held to nine, which is 12 below his average.
The only drama at the end was whether BSM (28-3) would reach 100 points; the Red Knights made it to the plateau on John Karlen's bucket with one second left, much to coach John Moore's chagrin. He had told players not to shoot, but Karlen, who came in with 28 seconds left, didn't get the message. It was pretty much the only thing about which Moore could complain.
"Obviously, we did our work early," he said. "It was sure fun to watch."
Featured comment
nice crowd
wow-it sounded like it was a scrimmage in the Target Center-St. Thomas will NOT have that problem. There fans are most likely not in Mexico
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