01/31/2009

BALLWIN — Chaminade sophomore Bradley Beal added another chapter to his impressive season Friday in the Ameritime Classic semifinals.

Beal scored 15 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Red Devils in the game. Then he found teammate Brendan Kelly for the game-winning layup with 2 seconds remaining as Chaminade came from behind to beat rival DeSmet 58-56 at Parkway West High School.

"You have to keep telling yourself he's just 15 years old, just a sophomore," Chaminade coach Kelvin Lee said. "But he makes plays. He's only going to get better. The sky is the limit for him."

Chaminade, the No. 1 team in the Post-Dispatch large-school rankings, improved to 17-1 with its 15th consecutive victory.

The Red Devils, who have beaten Metro Catholic Conference rival DeSmet three times this season, advanced to today's championship game against Hazelwood Central (15-3). That contest is set to start at 3 p.m.

"We needed this real bad because our defense and our rebounding wasn't that good," Beal said. "There are a lot of things that we need to work on on the defensive end, mainly more than the offensive end."

Beal, who entered the game averaging 23.6 points, did his part. After scoring eight points in the first half, the 6-foot-3 swingman scored 25 in the second half.

"He's just a great player — the ability to shoot it from a big step beyond, the ability to create his own shot, but also his ability at times like he showed tonight to find the right guy and get somebody else involved," DeSmet coach Kevin Poelker said.

DeSmet (9-9), which was paced by 19 points from Nate Kroeker and 13 from Patrick Jacobs, led for much of the game.

The Spartans were ahead 16-9 at the end of the first quarter after scoring the final 14 points, held a 25-19 advantage at halftime and then led 38-35 after three quarters.

DeSmet had a 56-52 advantage after Adam Powelson scored with 1:14 remaining. But then Chaminade's Brandon Lockhart, who scored 16 points, made a free throw a few seconds later and Beal tied the score with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 41 seconds to play.

The Spartans turned the ball over with 13 seconds left, then Beal brought it down the court slowly and drove into the lane. He had two defenders in his path when he dumped the ball down low to Kelly, who hit the first game-winning shot of his career.

HAZELWOOD CENTRAL 65, PARKWAY SOUTH 45 — The top-seeded Hawks, ranked third among area large schools, got 20 points from Bryce Foster and 17 from Connell Crossland to snap South's 10-game winning streak.

Ben Hoener led the Patriots (15-5) with 20 points, while Kevin Pohle added 10.