White's finale at St. Edward a tough one

The St. Edward boys basketball team dug itself an even deeper hole on the same court against the same playoff opponent as it did a year ago.

This time the hole won 62-57.

Last February, St. Edward won a Class 2A regional championship after rallying from a 14-1 deficit to defeat host Northridge Prep in Niles going away.

In Wednesday's 2A regional semifinal rematch, No. 3 Northridge Prep (22-5) hit No. 5 St. Edward (20-9) with a 19-2 opening run. The Green Wave eventually caught the Independent School League champs in the third quarter, but the Knights used a three-point possession with under a minute left to pull away for good.

"We came out slow and that's what killed us," said St. Edward senior A.J. Franklin, who led all scorers with 21 points.

St. Edward trailed 26-15 at the half but outscored the Knights 24-17 in the third quarter as the teams exchanged leads six times.

The Green Wave drew within 53-49 with possession with under two minutes left. However, Northridge senior Dan Strenk made a perimeter steal and scored on a breakaway to make it a 6-point game with 1:43 to play.

St. Edward drew back within 3 at 57-54 on Gaston's fourth 3-pointer with 54.8 seconds left, but Northridge sophomore Dan Kane was fouled. After making the first attempt, he missed the second but 6-foot-3 junior Ryan Menocal was there for the rebound and putback to restore the Knights' 6-point lead.

Franklin sank a 3-pointer for the Green Wave, but Joe Thursby's free throws with 1.2 seconds left sealed it.

Northridge Prep will face No. 2 Uplift in the regional final.

The loss marked the end of an eight-year run for P.J. White, who announced before the season this would be his last as St. Edward's coach.

"I think his legacy will be as one of the best coaches to ever come to St. Ed's," said senior Dylan Mlinarich, who finished with 11 points. "Coach White was really pushing us to get to 20 wins. That was our philosophy and that's what we built around. When we got to 20, we felt happy with ourselves because we know we're a truly good basketball team. Tonight, it didn't work out for us, but we gave them a push there at the end."

White's teams went 135-102. He won two regional titles and a sectional in 2014-15

"Eight years with four 20-win seasons? I'll take that," White said. "What we told the kids was that we changed the attitude at St. Edward High School from being a team everyone thought they were going to beat to a team that now every time they step on the floor thinks they're going to win. That's a credit to all the kids and coaching staff that said we're not going to take losing anymore. Hopefully, they'll continue that when I leave."