St. Dominic (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) 55, Radford 41

Brian Katz swished a couple of big 3-point shots as St. Dominic (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) broke open a close game early in the fourth quarter. The Bayhawks had a 38-35 lead entering the final quarter when Katz, a 6-3 junior, hit treys from the corner and the top of the key during a 12-0 run.

St. Dominic, which used a 2-3 zone for much of the contest, switched to a tight man-to-man defense that bothered the Rams. Radford missed its first seven shot attempts of the fourth quarter before breaking its scoreless drought on Gary Satterwhite's short bank shot with 2 minutes let.

St. Dominic (4-0), of the Catholic Nassau Suffolk League, will play the Saint Louis-LeFlore (Ala.) winner today in an 8 p.m. quarterfinal.

"Radford played very hard. They're well-coached and very patient," St. Dominic coach Ray Pavinelli said. "Maybe it was the jet lag, but we were very stale."

The Bayhawks lost point guard James Wilson to an ACL tear just before the season began. "We're really not in sync. He was our glue," Pavinelli said. "We shot too quickly in the first half, but we got the ball inside more (in the second half)."

Katz led all scorers with 16 points, including 3-for-6 shooting from the arc. Guard Roland Davis added 15 points, including seven in the opening quarter as the Spartans kept pace with the Rams.

Radford got a strong game from center Antonio Williams, who scored 12 points mostly on shots from the elbow areas. Gary Satterwhite, a 6-3 guard, also scored 12 points and had a team-high six rebounds.

"We pushed the ball. The halfcourt game is hard against them because they're tall," Satterwhite said.

In all, St. Dominic ruled the boards with a 33-22 edge. Ryan O'Grady, a 6-5 senior, grabbed 11 caroms for the Bayhawks.

LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) 81, Saint Louis 46

The Rattlers (13-0) used a smothering fullcourt press and relentless uptempo offense to overwhelm the Crusaders in the late game. Nick Williams led the Rattlers with 20 points and Derrick Young tallied 19. Joshua Wesley and Christopher Blake added 12 apiece.

Scott Smith led Saint Louis (3-2) with 16 points and Cole Shidaki added 12.
Williams, a 6-5 forward, sank three treys in the opening quarter as LeFlore, ranked 11th nationally by USA Today, raced to a 25-8 lead and never looked back.

With a plethora of tall, quick defenders, the Rattlers also used a halfcourt trap to force 10 first-quarter turnovers by Saint Louis, the No. 6-ranked team in the Star-Bulletin Top 10. LeFlore led 47-16 at halftime and cruised the rest of the way — not that they got lazy.

Coach Otis Hughley was on his feet the entire first half, going barely a moment without imploring his squad. "I'm just trying to get these guys to play for 32 minutes. It's easy to start making mistakes," he said of his requirement of full intensity. "I want us to play for the next several games."

Blake, rated as the No. 2 player in Alabama, was smooth and efficient. He brought the house down with a midcourt steal and gliding slam dunk over two defenders during LeFlore's first-half blitz.

Despite their outstanding start to the season, Hughley doesn't compare his current team to the squad of two years ago, not yet anyway. That team went 35-0 and finished No. 2 in the nation despite having no home gym due to Hurricane Ivan.

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