By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's Class 5A boys basketball title reign officially came to an end in Wednesday night's 51-41 home sub-state semifinal loss to St. James Academy.
Freshman KaeVon Bonner led Seaman with 16 points in Wednesday's 51-41 Class 5A sub-state semifinal loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Aron Davis (33) scored 12 points in Wednesday's 51-41 Class 5A sub-state semifinal loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the short-handed Vikings, who played without senior standout Kaeden Bonner (knee injury), didn't go down without a fight.
St. James Academy, which finished third in last year's state tournament, led by only four points at the end of the opening quarter, by a point at the half and by three points at the start of the fourth quarter before using a 17-10 scoring edge over the final eight minutes to pull out to its biggest lead of the night.
"I'm proud of our effort, especially after being down 11-2, to get back in it and be right there at the half and really we were fine, but down the stretch just didn't make the plays we needed to make,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said.
Injured Seaman senior standout Kaeden Bonner (left) watches from the bench in Wednesday's 51-41 sub-state loss to St. James Academy. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Kaeden Bonner, who had been fighting a left knee injury over the final part of the regular season, aggravated his injury in Seaman's regular-season finale against Kansas City-Turner and did not suit up Wednesday.
"He was so valuable in every aspect of the game and I'm proud of his development from starting as a freshman and just being a spot shooter basically to all the things that he did for this team this year,'' Cox said.
St. James, which improved to 14-7, jumped out to a nine-point advantage early in the game, but Seaman (13-8) quickly fought back and was in hunt until the final minutes of regulation before a couple of missed free throws, a missed 3-point attempt and a turnover helped the Thunder put the game away.
Freshman KaeVon Bonner led Seaman with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, while senior Aron Davis added 12 points.
Senior Brian Hawthorne led St. James Academy with 16 points while senior John Niesen added 12 points and senior Finn Burritt 11.
"St. James deserves a lot of credit,'' Cox said. "They've got a good team and they play a tough schedule so we knew our hands were going to be full.''
With Wednesday's win St. James Acaddemy advanced to Saturday's sub-state championship game to face top-ranked and undefeated Highland Park, a 90-26 winner over Lansing Wednesday night.
ST. JAMES ACADEMY BOYS 51, SEAMAN 41
St. James Academy 11 13 10 17 -- 51
Seaman 7 16 8 10 -- 41
St. James Academy (14-7) -- Burritt 4 2-2 11, J. Niesen 5 0-0 12, Boydston 0 6-6 6, Sydzyik 2 1-2 6, Hawthorne 7 2-4 16, S. Niesen 0 0-0 0, Alters 0 0-0 0, Dohm 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 11-14 51.
Seaman (13-8) -- KaeVon Bonner 6 1-1 16, Chapman 1 0-0 2, B. Finley 2 0-0 6, H. Finley 0 0-0 0, Davis 5 2-3 12, Parsel 0 0-0 0, Freeman 1 2-4 5, Unruh 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-8 41.
3-point goals -- St. James Academy 4 (J. Niesen 2, Burritt, Sydzyik), Seaman 6 (KaeVon Bonner 3, B. Finley 2, Freeman). Total fouls -- St. James Academy 13, Seaman 15. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
