Armstead brothers lead Hales rout over Chargers

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Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
11:05 PM

By George M. Wilcox
YourSeason.com

Eighth-ranked Hales gave St. Joseph a rude introduction into the Catholic League Friday night.

The Spartans, coming off a championship at the St. Charles East Thanksgiving tournament, had five players reach double figures scoring as Hales routed the Chargers 97-56 in a Catholic League North opener.

St. Joseph's debut in its new conference did not turn into a memorable one against the state's Class 2A third-place team last season. The Chargers (1-4, 0-1) played outside of the East Suburban Catholic Conference for the first time since 1973. St. Joseph joined the conference four years after legendary Chargers coach Gene Pingatore started his career in 1969.

Pingatore, who has won 27 ESCC titles, became the state's all-time winningest coach last season.

"Obviously, I was not for it, not because of the teams," Pingatore said. "Because of the relationships. We were a charter member of the East Suburban. I hate to see all that go. It was the comfort zone, but it is what it is."

St. Joseph was the smallest school in the East Suburban.

"We looked to coming to the (Catholic) League because it was more in parity with our student enrollment," St. Joseph athletic director Bruce DeSanto said.

Hales (4-1, 1-0) won its third consecutive game behind the high-flying Armstead brothers, senior Aaron (game-high 22 points) and junior Aaric (20 points, six rebounds).

The only thing to slow down Aaric Armstead was an official before the game's opening tip. Amstead wore mismatched socks and was forced to change. Reserve Niji Lomax took his place when the game began. Aaric entered the game with 5:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Aaric Armstead scored 16 points in the second half while shooting 10 of 14 from the floor total. Aaron shot 10 of 16 from the floor.

"We know what the other one will do," Aaric said. "With that, we hope we can get to keep our lead on teams."

Hales led 34-13 early in the second quarter and 48-30 at halftime.

Dominique Walls (eight rebounds) added 14 points while New York transfer Eddie Alcantara had 13 and Cameron Johnson contributed 11.

"Every year, every team has its own identity," Hales coach Gary London said. "This team has established itself as a good defensive team."

Cameron Harvey led St. Joseph, which lost its third consecutive game, with 14 points and Joe Edwards had 12.

"I thought we could be a halfway decent team by the end of the year," Pingatore said. "Our schedule is brutal. It's the toughest schedule we've had in many years."

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