St. Paul Johnson hands Heelan first loss of season
Posted: Monday, January 28, 2008
Posted from 01/26/08:
ST. PAUL, Minn. - St. Paul Johnson, sinking 29 of 38 free throw attempts, handed Sioux City Bishop Heelan, Iowa's top-ranked Class 3A team, its first loss of the season here Friday night in the Johnson High gym during the East Metro Showcase.
Heelan had won its first 13 games and Johnson, coached by Morningside College graduate Vernon Simmons, improved to 9-5.
Simmons was the starting point guard on the Morningside team that reached the 1983 NCAA Division II Final Four in Springfield, Mass.
Heelan's Brennan Cougill, a 6-9 junior who has committed to a scholarship offer from the University of Iowa, led all scorers with 34 points and Zach McCabe tacked on 17.
Estan Tyler, a 6-foot freshman, paced Johnson with 20 points and 5-10 junior Dion Suggs contributed 18 points.
Heelan will face Osseo, Minnesota's No. 2-ranked Class 4A team, at 3 p.m. as the East Metro Showcase resumes. It'll be the second of four games on the final day of the competition.
Osseo, a north suburban Twin Cities school, hiked its record to 14-0 with a 79-54 win over Andover in the first of the two games in the Showcase Friday night.
Heelan led 31-29 at halftime, but Johnson squeezed in front 46-45 after three quarters and outgunned the Crusaders of Coach Tom Betz 33-28 in a wild final eight minutes.
The winning Governors opened an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Crusaders narrowed the gap to four with under one minute to play.
"Johnson went on a little run in the fourth quarter and we didn't respond real well to their pressure," said Betz. "We made 29 turnovers, but we fought back and didn't get couple free throws to go at the end.
"They made their free throws down the stretch, I'll give them credit.
"We won't see a team that athletic and that quick. They just don't exist in Iowa, at least not that I've seen. Vernon told me they had some early losses.
"We came up here to get better. If you can learn something about yourself in a loss we did it."
After making all four of its free throws in the first half, Johnson warmed up considerably in the second half, sinking 25 of 34 charity attempts.
Heelan was whistled for 22 fouls, just four more than the host Governors.
Osseo, Heelan's foe today, features 7-foot, 315-pound Zack Peterson and 6-9, 215-pound Sam Dower, along with 6-4 senior guard Carrington Tankson.
BISHOP HEELAN (73)
Ben Sitzmann 4 0-1 8, Tanner Ferguson 3 0-0 8, Brennan Cougill 14 4-7 34, Zach McCabe 7 3-5 17, Ben Rickord 0 0-0 0, Chase Weaver 0 0-0 0, Shay Hacker 1 3-5 6, Joe Greer 0 0-0 0, Dylan Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Totals 29 10-18 73.
ST. PAUL JOHNSON (79)
Estan Tyler 5 8-9 20, Dion Suggs 8 1-2 18, Carlton Williams 1 0-0 2, Mike Talley 4 7-7 15, Maxie Rosenbloom 2 8-10 12, Demitri Conwell 0 1-2 1, James Dalbec 0 0-0 0, Lamar Anderson 2 4-4 9, Maurice Thomas 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 29-38 79.
Bishop Heelan 12 19 14 28 - 73
St. Paul Johnson 13 16 17 33 - 79
3-point goals - Heelan 5 (Cougill 2, Ferguson 2, Hacker), Johnson 4 (Tyler 2, Suggs, Anderson). Fouled out - Weaver. Total fouls - Heelan 22, Johnson 18.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - St. Paul Johnson, sinking 29 of 38 free throw attempts, handed Sioux City Bishop Heelan, Iowa's top-ranked Class 3A team, its first loss of the season here Friday night in the Johnson High gym during the East Metro Showcase.
Heelan had won its first 13 games and Johnson, coached by Morningside College graduate Vernon Simmons, improved to 9-5.
Simmons was the starting point guard on the Morningside team that reached the 1983 NCAA Division II Final Four in Springfield, Mass.
Heelan's Brennan Cougill, a 6-9 junior who has committed to a scholarship offer from the University of Iowa, led all scorers with 34 points and Zach McCabe tacked on 17.
Estan Tyler, a 6-foot freshman, paced Johnson with 20 points and 5-10 junior Dion Suggs contributed 18 points.
Heelan will face Osseo, Minnesota's No. 2-ranked Class 4A team, at 3 p.m. as the East Metro Showcase resumes. It'll be the second of four games on the final day of the competition.
Osseo, a north suburban Twin Cities school, hiked its record to 14-0 with a 79-54 win over Andover in the first of the two games in the Showcase Friday night.
Heelan led 31-29 at halftime, but Johnson squeezed in front 46-45 after three quarters and outgunned the Crusaders of Coach Tom Betz 33-28 in a wild final eight minutes.
The winning Governors opened an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Crusaders narrowed the gap to four with under one minute to play.
"Johnson went on a little run in the fourth quarter and we didn't respond real well to their pressure," said Betz. "We made 29 turnovers, but we fought back and didn't get couple free throws to go at the end.
"They made their free throws down the stretch, I'll give them credit.
"We won't see a team that athletic and that quick. They just don't exist in Iowa, at least not that I've seen. Vernon told me they had some early losses.
"We came up here to get better. If you can learn something about yourself in a loss we did it."
After making all four of its free throws in the first half, Johnson warmed up considerably in the second half, sinking 25 of 34 charity attempts.
Heelan was whistled for 22 fouls, just four more than the host Governors.
Osseo, Heelan's foe today, features 7-foot, 315-pound Zack Peterson and 6-9, 215-pound Sam Dower, along with 6-4 senior guard Carrington Tankson.
BISHOP HEELAN (73)
Ben Sitzmann 4 0-1 8, Tanner Ferguson 3 0-0 8, Brennan Cougill 14 4-7 34, Zach McCabe 7 3-5 17, Ben Rickord 0 0-0 0, Chase Weaver 0 0-0 0, Shay Hacker 1 3-5 6, Joe Greer 0 0-0 0, Dylan Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Totals 29 10-18 73.
ST. PAUL JOHNSON (79)
Estan Tyler 5 8-9 20, Dion Suggs 8 1-2 18, Carlton Williams 1 0-0 2, Mike Talley 4 7-7 15, Maxie Rosenbloom 2 8-10 12, Demitri Conwell 0 1-2 1, James Dalbec 0 0-0 0, Lamar Anderson 2 4-4 9, Maurice Thomas 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 29-38 79.
Bishop Heelan 12 19 14 28 - 73
St. Paul Johnson 13 16 17 33 - 79
3-point goals - Heelan 5 (Cougill 2, Ferguson 2, Hacker), Johnson 4 (Tyler 2, Suggs, Anderson). Fouled out - Weaver. Total fouls - Heelan 22, Johnson 18.
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