BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The St. Peter’s basketball team is supposed to be too young, too inexperienced. This year is supposed to be too soon for the Spartans.
Instead, they were just too good for McComb on Tuesday night.
Coach Joe Jakubick’s squad pounded the Panthers 68-50 in a thorough Sweet 16 beating at Bowling Green State University’s Stroh Center. That sends St. Peter’s to its first regional final appearance since a 2004 overtime loss to South Webster.
“We are one of the few teams up here with this many underclassmen,” Jakubick said. “This probably looked like Madison Square Garden to them.”
If it did, the Spartans showed no signs of stage fright. Jakubick noted the bigger floor played to his team’s advantage, allowing his athletes more room to operate, and they did just that.
“There are a lot of weapons on that team,” McComb coach Nick Latta said. “We thought maybe their younger guys would fold under the pressure, but they didn’t. They did a good job.”
All that stands between the Spartans (22-4) and the state tournament is No. 1-ranked Lincolnview. The 25-1 Lancers dumped No. 3 Fayette 36-29 in the other regional semifinal.
But St. Peter’s looked just as sharp, cruising to a 15-9 first-quarter lead when sophomore Mason Campbell canned a three at the horn. His classmate, Jared Jakubick, followed suit with an off-balance trey at the halftime buzzer to make it a 31-19 halftime bulge.
“That was a huge three,” Latta said of the youngster’s awkward shot. “I don’t want to say that was a backbreaker, but we were in a zone, and you could tell they were setting up a play against it and we jumped into man, and did a good job, but he just took a couple of dribbles and hit it.”
By the start of the second half, the game’s tenor was well established. The Spartans were simply too fast for the plodding Panthers (14-11), beating them to loose balls and outscoring them 10-0 off turnovers in the first two periods.
“They were a lot quicker than we imagined,” Latta said. “Outscoring us 10 points off turnovers is a big difference in a ball game, especially in the first half.”
St. Peter’s continued the onslaught, outpointing McComb 18-13 in the frame to forge a 49-32 advantage when Ryan Payne’s triple beat the third-quarter clock.
The Panthers (14-11) never climbed closer than 12 in the final period, and the Spartans emptied the bench to finish it.
St. Peter’s featured a balanced offense, with Jared Jakubick’s 16 points leading the way. Elijah Cobb bounced off the bench with 14 points, sophomore Mason Campbell added 14 and Kyle Osgar shook off early foul trouble to contribute 13 points.
The Spartans’ coach lauded the defensive effort of junior point guard Tyson Kent, and the board work of Payne, who added a team-high seven rebounds.
“We preach patience and I thought we were patient tonight,” Joe Jakubick said. “It’s a 32-minute game, and teams are going to make runs, especially if you get this far. But I thought our kids played with poise.”
Drew Siferd was the only Panther in double digits with 14 points. He just didn’t get enough help to keep his team close.
St. Peter’s got what it wanted, when it wanted offensively, drilling 23 of 46 shots to match its season average of 50 percent from the field. The Spartans also netted 16 of 19 free throws.
That performance sets up a Friday night showdown at 7 p.m. with the state’s top-rated team for a chance to reach the Final Four.
“Obviously, Friday night is an animal of a different color,” Jakubick said.
