Berkmar

The Golden Lions hit the ground running on Wednesday night, defeating Berkmar in the opening round of The Loop/Lee Sports Holiday Classic at Parkview High School , 54 – 37. The 17 point win marked the first ever victory for St. Pius X over a 5A school since the GHSA started dividing the schools into five classifications in 2000. Ironically, Berkmar has won two of the five AAAAA state championships during that five year span.

The Golden Lions came out of the gates strong, as a Joey Flint free throw and three pointers by Aaron Parr and William Wolf gave Pius an early 7 – 0 lead after the first four possessions of the game. The Golden Lions' defense would prove to be just as stifling as their offense, as they forced Berkmar into six first quarter turnovers, taking a 15 – 5 lead after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter, Berkmar appeared to find their nitch, scoring on four of their first five possessions to pull to within five, 20 – 15. The Patriot's Ben Sharp scored all eight of his points during that span, connecting on two three pointers and an elbow jumper. However, Spencer Davidson answered Sharp's scoring spree with a three pointer of his own, giving Pius an eight point lead with 4:18 left in the quarter. Pius put the clamps down for the remainder of the quarter, holding Berkmar to just one more field goal for the rest of the period, taking a 25 – 19 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The third quarter was a sloppy affair for the Lions as they committed six of their ten turnovers for the game. However Berkmar was unable to capitalize on Pius' mistakes, scoring on only one of the six turnovers and getting no closer than to within five points of the Golden Lions' lead. With 3:19 left in the quarter, Kevin Cone took control of the game. The senior scored on three consecutive possessions, making two acrobatic shots in the lane and converting a three point play to put Pius ahead by twelve, 37 – 25. Berkmar would answer right back, but two Aaron Parr free throws with .9 seconds left in the quarter would give the Golden Lions a ten point lead heading into the final stanza, 39 – 29.

The fourth quarter almost resembled an offensive highlight reel for the Golden Lions as Pius turned Berkmar's pressure into easy backdoor layup opportunities. In all, the Golden Lions scored six baskets from five different players, all coming off of assists. The clinching baskets came midway through the fourth quarter when Spencer Davidson scored a layup off a Kevin Cone pass and then turned around and fed William Wolf for another backdoor pass on the ensuing possession. The baskets gave Pius a commanding 15 point lead with 3:31 remaining and the rest was history.

For the game, St. Pius X displayed a very balanced scoring attack as Parr scored 17, Wolf 11, and Davidson and Cone 9. The real key to the game, however, was Pius' defense, which forced the Patriots into 22 turnovers and only allowed four offensive rebounds for the game. St. Pius X coach, Kevin Carroll, stated, “We talked all week long about how the key to the game would be limiting our turnovers and rebounding the ball. When we do that we are going to have a good chance to competitive with anyone on our schedule.”

The Golden Lions will suit up again on Saturday in the second round of the tournament, as they take on Heritage at 3:30. The winner of the game will play in Tuesday night's Championship game.