Friday, Feb. 18, 2011
10:28 p.m.
By Seamus Brennan
YourSeason.com
Timeouts can be a coachs best friend.
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Hales guard Aaron Armstead hit a field goal to put No. 6 Hales up 17-7 in the opening minute of the second quarter. So De La Salle coach Tom White called a timeout and decided to put on the full-court press to slow down the Spartans.
The result: a dramatic shift in the games tempo and a Catholic League North conference title for the No. 3 Meteors as they pulled away with a 64-48 win at De Le Salle Friday night.
We had to change the tempo there because (Hales) is so damn athletic and long, White said. So that little bit of a switch slowed them down just enough.
Dre Henley led De La Salle with 20 points and was all smiles after the game.
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It feels real good to win a championship, Henley said. Me and my team, we work really hard. We got a team full of killers.
Hales held a 26-23 lead after a first half that was jam-packed with action. There were six dunks all together, with one coming from Illinois-bound Mike Shaw. After that dunk, Shaw was whistled for a technical foul as he appeared to be trash talking. Shaw finished with seven points after fouling out with 2:59 left in the game.
Henley took a perfectly-fed alley-oop from sophomore Alvin Ellis with 3:42 left in the second quarter.
Hey, the crowd came to see a game, White said. Were going to play and so is Hales.
The Meteors outscored Hales 22-6 in the third quarter. Ellis had eight points in that quarter and Henley chipped in seven. Ellis, who came off the bench, finished with 17 points.
Ellis is coming off a great week, White said. Hes a sophomore, a 15-year-old doing those types of things.
Hales was never able to pull together a streak in the fourth quarter to close the gap as the closest it got was within nine points. De La Salle just wouldnt let up.
Its more personal than anything. A lot of people were hyping this game up saying it would be like 69-65 in overtime, Henley said. We won by almost 20 points. We wanted to send them home with an illness.
Armstead led Hales with 15 points.