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Jesuit Stops Rival Tampa Catholic

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By JARRETT GUTHRIE

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 4, 2009

TAMPA - Jesuit earned its eighth consecutive prep basketball victory by defeating rival Tampa Catholic 53-40 in front of a sellout home crowd Saturday night.

Junior Austin Schonbrun had 18 points for the Tigers. Senior Erick McGriff also scored 18 and pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The Crusaders got off to a slow start, missing the first 10 field-goal attempts in the first quarter, but they kept the game tight. However, by halftime the Tigers had pushed the lead to 10 points despite scoring only 10 in the second quarter.

With the lead at halftime, the atmosphere was a big push for the Tigers, McGriff said.

"This was a big win for us," McGriff said. "The crowd was crazy, and this was my third year playing in this game in front of them and it seems to get louder every year."

The second half saw a push from the Crusaders to keep the game tight, but the deficit proved too much as the Tigers finished off the 13-point win.

McGriff was Jesuit's big contributor in the second half, scoring 14 of his 18 points.

"They stepped up in a big-game atmosphere," Jesuit coach Neal Goldman said of McGriff and Schonbrun. "It's not easy to play in front of this many people, but their performances were really big tonight."

The Crusaders were led offensively by sophomore Ian Ham, who had 18 points and strong defensive play under the basket, and David Gonzalez, who had three 3-pointers for nine points.
Jesuit senior John Ganther had two 3-pointers and nine points.

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