Elijah King paces Huskies past Adams for key NIC boys basketball win
· Yahoo Sports
SOUTH BEND - The South Bend Saint Joseph's boys' basketball team needed a championship-type performance Thursday night to keep a firm grip on the battle for bragging rights in the loaded Northern Indiana Conference.
Visit chickenroad.qpon for more information.
Thanks to the 1-2 punch of Elijah King and Nick Shrewsberry, the Class 4A No. 14 Huskies got the needed result.
Junior King and senior Shrewsberry combined for 51 points as the Huskies topped host Adams 82-62 in NIC action in the Hadaway Shack.
Adams senior star Jarvis Tolbert canned a game-high 32 points in a simply sensational effort to pace the Eagles. The 6-3 guard, one of five seniors for the Eagles, also added 10 rebounds.
The Huskies, winners of six straight, improved to 13-4 overall and moved to 4-0 in the NIC. That sets up a conference clash with Penn on Tuesday night at St. Joe. Penn moved to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in the NIC with a 55-48 win at league foe Marian Thursday night.
Penn sophomore star guard Caleb Coolman had 25 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night. His father, Penn coach Barak Coolman, also collected career coaching win No. 300 in the victory.
Adams, which has dropped its last five games, dropped to 10-5 overall and 1-3 in the NIC.
The Huskies, who won the Class 3A state title a year ago, used a 22-10 scoring edge in the final quarter to pull away from the Eagles.
The Huskies had a 24-8 edge in points from the free throw line in a game dominated by a whistle-happy officiating crew. St. Joe was 24-of-33 from the line, while the Eagles went 8-of-18. A total of 39 fouls were called in the contest, which saw a parade to the line all game long.
The Eagles, who lost to St. Joe 87-58 a season ago and have now dropped their last five to St. Joe, also hurt themselves with 22 turnovers. The Eagles had nine turnovers in the final period. St. Joe finished the game with 12 miscues.
St. Joe also got one magnificent effort from King. The heady, do-it-all 6-2 junior guard finished with a team-high 27 points. King was a motivated young man after he did not start on Thursday night, as he missed the team bus to Adams. King, who leads his team in scoring at 20 ppg., tallied 15 first-half points to stake his team to a 44-39 halftime lead over Adams.
"He's just a special player," said fifth-year St. Joe coach Eric Gaff of King. "He responded well tonight. He played really well with his toughness."
Gaff added that it's a team rule that anyone who misses the bus to a game does not start.
King is a star of stars in a league that has its share of exceptional talents in the likes of Notre Dame-bound Shrewsberry, Tolbert, Penn sophomore guard Caleb Coolman, and the Riley duo of Da'Kori Parker and Tyrese Jones.
"Yes, he's the NIC MVP, who else?" responded Gaff about King. "He's just like I said, a special player."
"Everything we are doing is to get us ready for March, and games like this do that," added Gaff. "We talk about winning the turnover battle and winning the free-throw battle. We did both tonight. Small things like that add up to big victories. Credit our guys for attacking in the paint tonight."
The Huskies led 21-16 after the opening period as Shrewsberry canned 10 points with three treys. St. Joe pushed its lead to 11 at 36-25 in the second stanza, but Tolbert kept his team in it. The guard canned 13 points in the second period. The Huskies got seven points from King in the third period to lead 60-52 after it.
King also went over 1,000 career points early in the win. The guard, who now has 1,016 points, admitted he was ready to play coming off the bench Thursday night.
"Definitely," King responded when asked whether he was motivated by not starting. "I knew my teammates needed me tonight, and they deserve nothing but my best. We knew Adams was a good team. We knew we needed to bring nothing but our best tonight. We were aggressive and got to the free-throw line.
"To score 1,000 points as a junior is a big deal to me. I think that says a lot about me as a player. I'm a dawg. I do a little bit of everything as far as getting to the free-throw line, attacking the rim, shooting the three, and playing defense."
Chad Johnston, now in his ninth year at Adams, has definitely not lost any faith in his group.
"I'm very pleased with our effort tonight, and I'm still very confident in this team," said Johnston. "We just have to do a better job late in the game with our turnovers. You are not going to beat a team as good as St. Joe with 22 turnovers and then missing 11 free throws like we did tonight.
"But our kids keep practicing well. I told them that it will pay off and we will get over the hump. We just need to be consistent in the last quarter of games and take better care of the basketball.
"I can't talk enough about Jarvis and his play for us. He's just been very consistent. He's not just scoring, but he's giving the ball up when he needs to. I would put him up against anyone in the NIC."
Johnston, who was handed a technical foul with 1:47 left in the contest, chose to take the high road and offered a simple "no comment" when asked about the officiating.
Shrewsberry finished with 24 points and 6-6 junior Peyton Miamba 17 for the Huskies.
Junior Drew Dixon netted 12 points for the Eagles.
St. Joe and Adams both play non-conference games Saturday as the Huskies host Chicago Mount Carmel and the Eagles entertain undefeated Portage. St. Joe then hosts Penn and Adams plays at Riley in NIC clashes Tuesday night. Riley, which won the NIC title a year ago, is 3-1 in league play after beating Washington Thursday night.
The Huskies and the Eagles are both in the Class 4A Mishawaka Sectional. The loaded seven-team field also includes Penn, Riley and LaPorte.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: The South Bend St. Joe boys basketball team topped Adams Thursday night