03-12-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
PEORIA – Chicago Hales Franciscan head coach Gary London told his club before that state championship game that they had to make Murphysboro earn every point.

Unfortunately for the Red Devils – only 47 points were earned.

The Spartans were led by the “Triple-A's” from brothers Aaron and Aaric Armstead along with teammate Eddie Alcantara in points and the inside game of Hales blocked seven shots and deflected countless passes in the 61-47 victory in the 2011 IHSA Class 2A state title game on Saturday night in Peoria.

In the two games at the state finals – Hales Franciscan defeated two previously unbeaten teams.

After taking down Rockford Christian 56-43 on Friday night the Spartans got the best of a 35-0 Murphysboro team.

Aaric Armstead scored 18-points in the championship game and he was part of a defensive scheme that shut down Murphysboro high-scoring guard Jerrod Gaston.

Gaston – who scored 25-points in the semifinal win over Pittsfield – was held to just seven points.

“When you get to the Elite Eight and then into the Final Four every team has an all-stater or a good player who is a top scorer and we put a lot of focus on Gaston,” said Coach Gary London who is now 259-93 in 12-years at the school. “We weren't going to let him beat us and we wanted to make some of his teammates step up. I told the kids in the pregame that we aren't going to try and shut him (Gaston) out but we are going to make him work for every basket he gets.”

Alcantara and Aaron Armstead added 15 and 12 points for the Spartans who won their second state title (2003 previously title) after finishing third last March.

Murphysboro had its undefeated season end at 35-1 after the loss despite 16-points from Orlando Jarrett.

Pierre House added 11-points for Murphysboro while Gaston and Dylan Craig finished with seven each.

“We kept making little (scoring) spurts and I thought that we still some chances but I think we missed three front ends of one-and-one's. But for the most part that (Hales) is a heck of a basketball team that we just lost to,” said Murphysboro head coach Daryl Murphy who is 348-149 in 17-seasons at Murphysboro. “Usually we are the more athletic team and tonight we weren't. The are all 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 and they're long as can be and they anticipate passing lanes. They do a great job at what they do.”

Coach Murphy's squad hung in tough with the multi-athletic Hales Franciscan team but finally wore down in the second half.

The Red Devils committed 18-turnovers with nearly all of them forced.

Hales was credited with 12 steals – an unheard of total for a team facing and undefeated team in the state championship game.

Murphysboro failed to handle the Hales full-court press.

Twice in the second half Murphysboro was called for ten-second backcourt violations.

Murphysboro led 11-10 after one quarter and a pair of scores by Gaston and House pushed the lead to 15-10.

Gaston scored on a drive to the basket after taking a pass from Jarrett while House chased down a full-court pass and hit a reverse lay in for the five point advantage.

But the Spartans used a 10-0 run in the middle part of the second quarter to take back the lead for good.

Trailing 19-16 Hales got a 3-pointer from Alcantara and a driving bank shot by Aaric Armstead that got the run off to a good start.

Then Aaron Armstead converted a conventional three-point play and then scored in transition off Murphysboro's fourth turnover of the quarter.

Walls made two steals in the run and his assist to Armstead with 2:45 left before halftime completed the scoring spree at 26-19 Hales.

“We had a great push there in the second quarter and got up five but then they (Hales) scored in waves,” added Coach Murphy. “The one thing that concerned me tonight was their press and at halftime we had eight turnovers and they had seven. But our eight turnovers turned into points for them.”

Jarrett closed out the half for Murphysboro with a pair of free throws and a 12-footer in the paint on a pass from Eben Brooks to cut the Red Devils deficit to 28-23 at the break.

The 5-foot-10 senior Jarrett helped give Murphysboro its final real push at Hales to open the second half as this guard buried back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Devils to within 30-29 with 5:47 remaining.

However the next Hales run was a game decider and a heart breaker for the Southern Illinois representative.

Hales scored the games' next eight points with Alcantrara and Aaric Armstead scoring on fast break chances.

Murphysboro found itself trailing 42-35 heading into the final quarter.

“We knew that they (Murphysboro) were only six deep and we felt that if we could make those six kids wear down that we would win,” added Coach London. “And it kind of went by the script because by the middle of the third quarter we felt like fatigue had set in for them.”

The Spartans scored the first five points of the final stanza and held the Red Devils off by hitting 9-of-10 free throws in the last 6:06 of the game.

Murphysboro committed 10 of its 18 turnovers in the second half in losing for the first time this season.

The Red Devils finished 18-of-39 from the field for the game and 7-of-10 from the foul line.

Hales finished its championship run at 29-4 on the season in part to a 22-of-49 shooting effort and a 28-26 rebounding edge. Ten of those boards were on the offensive glass.

“This has been a remarkable run for us. Thirty-five and one and we just got beat by a better basketball team tonight,” finalized Coach Murphy. “Sometimes you just have to face the facts. I think we could have played better but the mistakes we made they forced us into. My philosophy is that if a team is going to press you you have to make them pay for it and early we did that and got some 2-on-1 looks and made some shots but we just ran out of gas.”