Saturday, December 11, 1999
St. Xavier 61, Kettering Alter 44
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
He looks a lot like his older brother and, GCL opponents take note, Jordan Cornette served notice Friday night that he might be ready a year ahead of schedule to play like him.
Cornette was a deciding factor, scoring 15 points to lead St. Xavier to a 61-44 victory over defending Division II state champion Kettering Alter on Friday night at St. X.
Cornette is a wiry 6-foot-7, 185-pound junior, similar to his brother Joel, an all-city player a year ago and now a freshman on the Butler University basketball team.
Friday night, Jordan went inside and rebounded against Alter's bigger front line and he stoked St. X's offense from the perimeter, hitting three 3-pointers as the Bombers put together a strong second half offensively.
“He's got both aspects to his game,” St. X coach Scott Martin said. “The outside game makes him effective and then he goes in and does the job on the boards.”
“He's a nice-looking young player,” Alter coach Joe Petrocelli said. “It looks like he's farther along than his brother at this point.”
After trailing 29-28 at half, St. X took control of the game with a five-minute stretch in the third quarter. Using better passing and the penetration of guard Steve Sollmann, the Bombers declawed a 2-1-2 Alter zone that forced them into 5-of-17 3-point shooting in the first half and they stepped up the intensity of their man-to- man defense.
“We were a little sluggish,” Cornette said of the first half. “As the game went on, we finally got our act together. We wanted to make a statement tonight by beating one of the better programs in the state.”
The Bombers had that kind of focus during their run. From a 31-31 tie, center Andy Larkin hit a stickback to put St. X ahead. A little later, Cornette added another stickback and then a 3-pointer, then hit a second 3-pointer with 2:50 left in the quarter to close out a 13-0 run and put St. X ahead 44-31.
Alter never got closer than nine points the rest of the way. The Knights had some flu difficulties within their ranks this week, including guard Mark Borland, a hero during Alter's run to the state title last year. He was held scoreless Friday.
St. X played without starting point guard Steve Callahan, who has a minor injury. Sollmann, the catalyst behind St. X's attack, and guard Mike Grogan both picked up the slack with 11 points each.
“This is a good win. It let's us know we can beat a good team,” Martin said.
ALTER (44) — Waleskowski 6 2 14, Goings 4 3 11, Freshwater 0 1 1, Jones 1 2 4, Staub 3 2 11, Kohls 0 3 3. Totals: 14 13 44.
ST. XAVIER (61) — Grogan 3 2 11, Cornette 5 2 15, Cronin 3 2 8, Bast 3 1 8, Larkin 2 2 6, Sollmann 4 1 11, Compton 0 2 2. Totals: 20 12 61.
Alter ....... 11 18 6 9—44
St. Xavier ....... 10 18 16 17—61
Three-point goals: A-Staub 2; SX-Grogan 2, Cornette 3, Bast, Sollmann 2. Records: SX 2-0, A 1-1.
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