Following a first-round loss to sixth-seeded Francis Howell Central at the Washington Tournament, third-seeded Borgia came back with a pair of victories to capture consolation honors.
Borgia (8-6) won the consolation contest Saturday over fourth-seeded St. Charles, 63-61.
“We really needed some wins after losing games to some pretty good teams like Chaminade,” said Borgia Head Coach Dave Neier. “I don’t think we played that well in our first game here. But to get things going in the right direction with a couple of wins really means a lot to our guys.”
Casey Kuchem led the way for Borgia with 18 points and six rebounds.
Jordan Miller finished with 14 points and six assists. John Baumstark scored 10 points.
Joe Helfrich collected nine points and seven rebounds. Zach Schweissguth added nine points and four assists. Adam Meyer had three points.
St. Charles (11-6) was led by Casey Teson, who scored 23 points. Tim Evans added 11 points. Korey Haulcy had nine points.
“We hit a couple of big shots. Casey got a couple of big rebounds, which really helped us out,” Neier said. “To play in a close game and come out with a win, that means a lot. St. Charles has a good team. They’re young, but they’re a very talented team. They’re going to be a force in the next couple of years. They attack you and go after you.”
Borgia held a 47-39 lead after three quarters.
The Pirates went on an 11-1 run to start the fourth quarter to grab a 50-48 advantage with 5:36 left on the clock.
“Midway through the third quarter, they came storming back. No. 32 (Teson) is unbelievable with some of the shots he made. I thought we were playing decent defense. We had a hand in his face, but he was out by the volleyball spiking line putting it up for a three,” Neier said. “They got extremely hot. A couple of other kids, No. 44 (Evans) made a couple from the corner.”
The Knights responded with an 11-5 run, capped on a three-pointer by Miller, to push ahead 59-55 with 2:15 remaining.
The back-and-forth fourth quarter continued as St. Charles tied the game 61-61 on a three-pointer by Teson with 54 seconds left.
Baumstark scored the game-winning basket with 38 seconds left to give Borgia a 63-61 lead.
Trailing by two points, St. Charles called a timeout with 9.5 seconds left.
The Pirates then went for the win, missing a three-pointer from the corner in the final seconds.
“We could have done a better job putting the game away if we just hit some free throws. Our free-throw shooting was our downfall in this game,” Neier said. “Our past teams, we were able to put teams away if they wanted to foul us. Here, we kept them in the game by not taking advantage from the free-throw line.”
Borgia jumped to a 13-5 lead in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game and led 17-13 after one quarter.
The Knights had a 13-8 second-quarter advantage to lead 30-21 at halftime.
The lead for Borgia grew to 11 points twice during the third quarter.
A three-pointer by Miller made the score 46-35 with 1:35 remaining in the third period.
“We got off to a fast start. They put a lot of pressure on us, but we were able to break the press, get down the court and get a couple of easy baskets. That kind of fueled our offense,” Neier said. “We did a good job getting the ball inside and making some easy baskets.”
