By Dylan Butler
Maybe it was that his team had already won the CHSAA Class A city title or that the grind of a long season had finally taken its toll on the senior-laden Storm, but St. John's Prep didn't have an answer for St. Anthony's in the second half in a season-ending 92-83 loss at Fordham University in the Bronx.”I'm a little surprised we gave up so many points because we've been a pretty good defensive team,” Gatto said. “For whatever reason we didn't have that defensive intensity.”Richard Thomas, though, won't use winning the first city title in 26 years as an excuse. The senior guard, who scored a team-high 24 points, said he wanted this game as much as the others.”To be honest, the city championship was last week,” said Thomas, who has garnered interest from West Virginia, Siena, Rider, St. Francis College and Long Island University. “We all practiced and worked hard… and we wanted to come to Fordham University to win. That was our next goal.”But St. Anthony's (22-6) shot its way to Glens Falls and a date with private school champ Lawrence Woodmere in the state Federation Class A semifinals Friday at 6:45 p.m. by knocking down 7-of-11 3-pointers in the game and 16-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter.Patrick Foley led the way with 25 points and 6 assists and Matt Treacy had 18 points and 8 rebounds to ignite a 16-5 third quarter run as the Friars erased a one-point halftime deficit to take a 55-45 lead with 4:16 left in the third quarter.Jonathan Schmidt had 17 points, Chris Kolakowski had 15 points and 6 assists and 6-foot-10 Tom Leszcynski had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Friars, which shot 70 percent from the field in the second half.Richard Jean Baptist had 23 points and 8 rebounds, Jelani Winfield had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Chris Williams had 14 points and 8 assists despite struggling from the field.”It was a great run,” said Gatto, who reached the 500-win plateau in December. “We went 25-2 and I think any coach in the country would be happy with a record like that.”Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
