Friday, March 24, 2000
St. X plays it cool for state semis
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
Handicapping St. Xavier's first state basketball tournament appearance since 1965 boils down to one question: Who can handle the pressure?
Defensive pressure has been key to both Hilliard Davidson (22-4) and St.X (23-2) reaching the Final Four of the boys Division I state tournament. And off-court pressure could affect the two teams, which have one previous state tourney appearance between them.
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AT A GLANCE
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• Matchup: St. Xavier (23-2) vs. Hilliard Davidson (22-4)
• What: Division I state semifinals
• When: 9 p.m. Today
• Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus
• Tickets: $7, Available at school or at gate beginning at 8 p.m.
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St.X coach Scott Martin jokes about copying the old Hoosiers trick of taking his team to the Schottenstein Center floor and measuring the distance from floor to rim. “We've got to take it like any other game at the end of the year,” Martin said. “We've had five games in the tournament, and if we blow this one out of proportion, you could end up making the kids nervous.”
The two teams are remarkably similar in most ways — both run a motion offense and play man-to-man defense, both have used depth to overwhelm opponents, both are balanced offensively, and both average about 60 points a game and limit opponents to fewer than 50. But each side can point to one key area it hopes will be to its advantage.
“These are two evenly matched teams, no doubt about that,” Davidson coach Steve DeDent said. “But St.Xavier has a size advantage, and I think we're quicker.”
St.X starts 6-foot-6 John Cronin and the 6-7 duo of Jordan Cornette and Andy Larkin on its front line. Davidson goes with a three-guard lineup; it's only front-line starters are 6-4 Josh Lewis (10.1 ppg) and 6-5 Josh Nungresser (4.8 ppg).
Davidson comes into this game on a 13-game winning streak. Only once during that streak has it allowed an oponent to score more than 55 points.
Thursday story: Versatile Cornette leads St. X
Wednesday story: Coach, dad lead St. X to state
Saturday story: Sollman leads regional victory
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