St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Javin DeLaurier-Montgomery entertained with an array of dunks and an incredible 30-point that came entirely from the floor, but one of the loudest cheers from the STAB faithful Tuesday night came when reserve senior Ben Landes connected for a fourth quarter lay-up in his final home game.
“Ben Landes has been a great teammate since he’s been here and he’s one of the big reasons we have such great chemistry,” said STAB coach Brian Kent. “So it’s great to see him get in there and get a bucket.”
Landes’ moment capped a huge night as the No. 5-seeded Saints cruised 90-69 over No. 12-seeded Fishburne Military School in the VISAA Division II tournament first round.
The victory pushed STAB into the state quarterfinals where they’ll face No. 4 Carlisle Wednesday night.
DeLaurier-Montgomery gave Fishburne fits, dominating in transition and on the block while pouring in 15 field goals on the night. He had 16 points before the break and then unleashed a couple of dunks during a huge 14-0 run to start the third quarter that blew open a 10-point game at halftime and allowed the Saints to run away with the victory.
“That’s what we talked about (at the half) — we weren’t getting back in transition, the game was fast and we weren’t getting back,” Kent said. “We did a much better job in the first four minutes of the third quarter which (leads to) easy baskets at the other end.”
Montgomery-DeLaurier scored eight points in that frame while Jalen Harrison also got into a groove with nine points, hitting a trio of free throws earned while attacking the basket. The Saints were nearly flawless in transition, finishing consistently and running at any opportunity.
“(That’s) our game — if we’re defending we can go,” Kent said.
Harrison has rounded into his usual form of late and made STAB an even more dynamic squad than they already were.
“We’ve got a couple of set plays for him with Javin catching up top and him down low,” Kent said. “The high-low with those two with Jalen’s strength and Javin’s strength and height is just hard to compete with.”
The Saints will play the Indians on the road for the right to compete in the VISAA D2 Final Four at 5:30 p.m.
