Princeton runs past St. Bede for TRAC East victory

The Princeton Tigers hit the St. Bede Bruins with two big waves Friday night at Prouty Gym.

The first, a 12-0 run early in the third quarter, opened up a double-digit lead. The second wave, this time a 16-0 run to start the fourth quarter, put the game away as the Tigers rolled to a 72-48 Senior Night victory in a Three Rivers Conference East Division game.

“Senior Night is a difficult night to play because it just interrupts your whole routine. I expected a slow start,” PHS coach Jason Smiith said. “They played really well the first half. I don’t think we played poorly, they just played really well.

“Second half, our guys did some things, pressured them a lot more and I think that was the ball game there.”

The Bruins (11-10, 2-4) came in a bit short-handed without all-time leading scorer Paul Hart, missing his second straight game in quarantine, but yet battled Princeton to a 29-26 game at halftime.

St. Bede inched closer within 33-31 to start the second half.

Then came the Tigers.

The Monroe brothers, Kaden and Kolten, each scored two baskets, including a dunk by the junior Kolten, on the way to a 41-31 lead. Teegan Davis and Kolten Monroe scored in the post to stretch the Tigers’ lead to 45-31 with under 4 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Isaiah Hart, helping to pick up some slack from his absent brother, scored twice, ending on a drive down the left lane to beat the buzzer to make it 52-43 at quarter’s end.

Princeton (11-7, 4-1) held the Bruins scoreless for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter while scoring 16 straight. Davis got things started with a follow-up bucket and ended the streak with a three-point play to make it 68-43 with 2 1/2 minutes left.

“That was because of our ball pressure. Our ball pressure is huge,” Smith said. “I think our guys get in a complacent stage where they don’t want to get up on the ball as much and I tell them all the time, ‘You need to have ball pressure. The other team likes to do it to us and we need to give it right back to them.’

“And I thought that fourth quarter they did a lot better job of that.”

Bennett Sierens, Mack Williams, Grady Thompson and Kolten Monroe all scored in the streak in addition to Davis’ nine markers.

Isaiah Hart broke the Bruins ice with a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining. Jack Bauer, much to the delight of the student body, chipped in a bucket to help finish off the Tigers’ runaway victory.

“For about the length of three quarters we hung around. We were really competitive in the first half. Didn’t turn the ball over a lot,” St. Bede coach Brian Hanson said. “They had a stretch in the third quarter where they stretched it out on us. We had some turnovers that led to some transitions, and boy can they go in transition. They’re fast, they’re powerful. They jump. They’re a good ball club.

“I’m really proud of the guys. We’re not huge on morale victories and stuff. People are going to pick up the paper and think it was a flat out blowout. But I told them, ‘You guys hung in there. You had grit, you had some fight. Through three quarters of play, you’re still in it.’”

Hanson said the Bruins are making the best of the situation of missing Paul Hart and others to quarantine.

“Obviously, who wouldn’t want to play with Paul and some of other guys, Zayd Kahn and Jake Bradach, who are giving us good minutes. We got guys going out there being competitors. I’m proud of them,” he said.

The Tigers shared the wealth with Davis scoring 18 points, Kolten Monroe 12, Thompson 11 and Kaden Monroe 10.

“Coach (Tim) Smith said it best, we shared the ball so well tonight. So unselfish,” Jason Smith said. “That’s three straight games we’ve won and three straight games we’ve been unselfish. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

“I’m happy where we’re at. I think we’re starting to play better ball and I’m hoping to peak at the right time. Because, when we’re clicking, we’re a fun group to watch.”

For St. Bede, Luke Story had 11 points while Duncan Lawler, Isaiah Hart and Brendan Pillion all finished with nine points.

Story hit back-to-back treys to give the Bruins an early 8-6 lead.

Princeton took a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Bruins momentarily charged back in front. Story hit a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer and Connor Brown scored off a back cut to put the Bruins back in front at 18-16.

The Tigers outscored their guests 13-8 the rest of the second quarter to go up 29-26 at the half.

* Notes: PHS also won the sophomore game 66-30. Daniel Sousa and Bennett Williams each had 12 points for the Kittens while Evan Driscoll added nine and Ben Anderson eight. Isaiah Hart led the Cubs with 14 points.