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St. Francis uses depth against Lake Park

St. Francis and Lake Park got an early-season opportunity to test their mettle on a neutral court on Wednesday night at the Wheaton Academy Thanksgiving Tournament.

Using their depth, the Spartans managed to outlast the Lancers on their way to a 45-43 victory.

Lake Park (1-2) jumped out to an early 6-2 lead by pounding the post and hitting three of their first four shots. However, St. Francis took a timeout to regroup and responded with an 8-0 run that staked them a lead they held the entire game.

In doing so, the Spartans (1-1) played 12 players in the opening half, which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, according to coach Erin Dwyer.

"It's a little mind-numbing. We went 12 deep and we had three or four more guys that I think right now can help us. It's finding the right situation to put guys out there and it's a combination of where are they at and what are their experience levels and putting them in a position where they're going to succeed," Dwyer said.

Lake Park's defense helped keep the Lancers in the game in the first half, forcing 8 St. Francis turnovers. However, the Spartans took a 19-17 lead at halftime.

In the second half St. Francis continued to struggle with turnovers, committing 20 on the night. However, timely shotmaking and an inability to create points off those turnovers by Lake Park made an enormous difference.

"Right now we're searching for guys who've put the time in to make those plays," Lake Park coach Josh Virostko said. "Diamante Smith can do some of that, but we're just limited."

Smith led all scorers in the game with 15 points for Lake Park.

In the fourth quarter the Spartans managed to create some separation between themselves and the Lancers when they answered a pair of scoring possessions by Lake Park with three-point plays by Danny Blank and John Detloff to give them a 37-30 lead with 4:50 to play.

Blank chipped in 9 points for St. Francis, while Detloff scored 11. Senior forward Andrew Harvey led the Spartans with 12.

In the waning moments Lake Park made one last charge at a come-from-behind victory when Smith hit a 3-pointer to make it 43-40 with 6.1 seconds remaining. However, a foul on the ensuing possession and a pair of clutch free throws from Harvey sealed the win for St. Francis.

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