Crossroads Defeats St. Monica For CIF Sectional Basketball Championship

Patrick Siritara
Mirror contributing writer

   In the end, the story of the CIF championship game followed the motif of the Crossroads Roadrunners’ season—Isaiah Fox running the show on both ends of the court. 
   The 6'10" Fox put on a bruising display of interior basketball as he single-handedly controlled the paint for the Roadrunners, denying any easy baskets for St. Monica while scoring a majority of his points inside. Fox finished the game with 20 points and 19 rebounds, two more than the entire St. Monica Mariners team. 
   Fox also made his presence felt on defense, blocking three shots and altering many more. His height advantage, along with their inconsistent outside shooting, contributed to the Mariners’ woes as they shot 33% from the field. 
   "Fact is, in the half court set, Isaiah is so big in the middle and he’s really a smart player," said St. Monica coach Scott McDowell, referring to Fox’s inside presence. "He did a good job of rotating, staying out of foul trouble, and getting a hand in the face of our shots."
   With the championship game played at the Arrowhead Pond, anxiety was also a factor early in the game as both teams were playing in an entirely new and different environment. The opening three minutes saw both teams struggling to find offensive rhythm. Fox finally broke the scoreless deadlock three minutes into the game with a rebound and layup. 
   "He [Fox] knew that he had to take control of that situation," said Crossroads coach Daryl Roper, in reference to the team’s shaky start. "And we wanted to make sure he got going early and established his presence." 
   Fox did exactly that, as he scored Crossroads’ first four baskets before a Jordan Rush jumper at 7:45 of the first period began to balance the Crossroads scoring. 
   Despite the giving up a size advantage to Fox, St. Monica started the game strong. Crossroads’ trademark trapping defense actually played into their strategy as the pace of the game quickened. St. Monica led at the end of the first quarter 11-10.
   "They have a good half court offense, and because they were extending their defense and pressuring us, we wanted to take advantage of that," admitted St. Monica coach Scott McDowell. 
   St. Monica opened the second quarter in the same fashion as the first, with a man defense and putting double teams on Fox, which provided the open looks Crossroads needed to get its perimeter shooters on target. Senior Nick Forman hit two 3-point shots in the second quarter to open the game up. Forman finished the game with 9 points, all on 3-pointers.
   "They went to Isaiah like we knew they were going to do," disclosed McDowell. "We did a good job of rotating on Isaiah and they did a good job of hitting some outside shots."
   At that point, St. Monica had to pick its poison -- either to leave the Crossroads shooters open or let Fox operate in the low block. 
   St. Monica chose the former and that’s when Crossroads started to pull away. Rush picked up his game, contributing 10 points and 5 rebounds. At the end of the half, Crossroads had taken the lead, 24-15. 
   Crossroads extended its lead to 39-24 after the third quarter as St. Monica struggled to find any offensive rhythm. After scoring only 4 points in the second quarter, the Mariners’ could only manage 9 in the third. 
   Early in the fourth, St. Monica went on a run to make the game more competitive. Senior forward Marcus Shelby led the Mariners’ run in the fourth that closed the deficit to within 8 points. 
   The 6'6" Shelby ended the game with 13 points and 4 rebounds. However, his partner inside, 6'7" senior Sean Cole could only manage 2 of 10 shooting to finish with 4 points. Senior guard Lance Washington had 8.
   However, St. Monica’s improved fourth period was not enough to overcome its earlier offensive woes and Crossroads had the game in hand. 
   "After he signed with Arizona, he kinda sat back and let the season go by. For whatever reason he plays well against big guys," said Roper said in describing Fox’s game. "What we’re trying to do is encourage him to go out as a champion." That is exactly what happened on Saturday.

FLASH! 
Crossroads Wins Again
The Crossroads Roadrunners advanced in the State Regionals Basketball Tournament last night with a 47-43 victory over the Lindsay Cardinals. Isaiah Fox paced the Roadrunners with 18 points and junior Troy Brown added 12.