St. Rita ended up...

...defeating Hales Franciscan Friday night, 55-48. (That's the scoreboard before the game, of course. And I know this is old, but better late than never.)

I don't have a whole lot to add to the excellent coverage by Mike Helfgot in the Tribune or Michael O'Brien in the Sun-Times. (Although the latter walked right past me after the game! He's tall; I wonder if he played ball when he was young?)

I was a little disappointed that Kentucky-bound Charles Matthews only scored nine points (although I read he had 28 the next night against Fenwick), St. Rita turned the ball over 19 times (what?) and 6' 9" center Myles Carter didn't even suit up. According to O'Brien: 

St. Rita coach Gary DeCesare said it was a “coaches decision.”

But, even without Carter or a stellar performance from Matthews, St. Rita won fairly easily. (Although Hales did give them a bit of a scare when they took a one-point lead in the middle of the fourth quarter; but did anyone in that crowded, noisy gym really think the Spartans were going to win? I don't think so.)

It was a fun game, I'm glad I went (even if I did have to park on the street and ended up with a mediocre seat) and have only one thing to add. The Mustangs started a junior at center, Meshach Obafemi, who's listed on the program as 6' 8" and 250 pounds. I'm not much of a judge of talent, particularly in basketball, and the kid came out of the game for good fairly early, but watch out for him next year -- if nothing else, he's huge! (I remember watching Cliff Alexander as a sophomore and not thinking he was anything special. And now look at him -- playing for Kansas as a freshman!) 

I'll be interested to see if St. Rita plays Stevenson in the postseason.