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Photo by Brett Stanley/The Advocate
Sophomore point guard Earl Jones, shown earlier in the season, was sidelined during the winter break due to an academic situation. Jones is now cleared to play Saturday for the conference opener against PCC at home at 6 p.m.
Men look to take down Panthers for eighth in a row
The Advocate
The Saints men’s basketball team is heading into conference play this weekend riding a seven-game winning streak.
The Saints break started with match-up Dec. 11 against Columbia Basin where the Saints were up as much as 15 points for most of the game before squandering the lead in the last five minutes of the game.
Freshman guard Drew Johnson said, “In the last five minutes, we let them back into it and almost lost.” The Saints were able to hang on to get the victory 84-82.
“Mentally we were not ready. We thought we were going to blow them out but didn’t,” said Johnson. “We need to be more mentally prepared.”
The Saints competed in the Bellevue Crossover Dec. 18-20 but found out they were losing Earl Jones, their sophomore point guard.
“I didn’t take care of business in the classroom early enough,” said Jones. “I had to do an assignment and I turned it in but my teacher didn’t get it. But it is fixed now and I am now eligible to play (against Portland Community College Saturday).”
Jones took it upon himself to push his teammates even while he was out.
“I pushed them in practice a lot. I pushed them to be in class so it didn’t happen to them. I am happy to see my teammates do well,” he said.
Without his starting point guard, Head Coach Geoff Gibor turned to Johnson to lead the Saints in the tournament, which they ultimately won, beating Wenatchee Valley, Highline and finally beating Bellevue in the championship game.
“It felt great,” said Johnson. “The team came together that weekend. We played really well the whole tournament. The team took a step we needed to make. Even though we won, we still have to take it one game at a time.”
Jones said, “Drew stepped up big for us in that tournament. A lot of guys did for us.”
The Saints took a break but resumed play Dec. 30 where they beat Linfield JV 72-67 and then beat Blue Mountain 87-60 on Jan 2.
The Saints look to extend their win streak to eight Saturday at home against Portland Community College at 6 p.m.
“I don’t really know much about them except they are athletic,” said Johnson. “We have been practicing on our weakside defense and transition defense. We are just practicing on being a disciplined team on defense.”
Jones said, “It feels great to get to play again. But I am a little worried (about PCC) because they are athletic. We need to be prepared.”
The Saints will play Jan. 13 at home against Clackamas Community College at 7:30 p.m. followed by Chemeketa at home on Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.
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