John Burroughs Holds Lead Over Parkway Central, Advances to Chaminade Tourney Final

appeared to have John Burroughs under control through three quarters of a round-robin game in the Chaminade Christmas Tournament Thursday night, and then the tide turned.

The Bombers outscored the Colts 18-6 in the final stanza, to win the privilege of playing host , Friday night, beating the Colts 46-41.

Central senior forward Zach Biggs had a team-high 16 points, none of which fell in the fourth period. On the other end, Bombers junior guard Foye Oluokun found the hoop for a game-high 21 points, eight of those coming in the last period.

“We had the defensive stops,” Oluokun said about the first half. “We just had to take advantage of them.” They found a way.

Burroughs was up 12-8 after the first period, then the Colts outscored the Bombers 13-5 in the second, to go ahead 21-17 at the half. Biggs scored eight in the first half, then eight in the third period.

Bombers junior guard James Carney hit a trey at the buzzer to end the third, and gave a fist pump. The Bombers were down 28-35.

Central hit first in the fourth period, then Burroughs reeled off 15 unanswered points to go ahead 43-37 with 2:38 left in the game. The Colts came within three, but couldn’t reverse the trend.

“We’ve been in close games before,” Oluokun said. “We just have to fight back when it matters most.”

“When things are going good, they just keep it up,” Bombers head coach Steve Wilcutt said. He said they had too many turnovers in the first half, then they got their transition game going in the second.

He said stopping Biggs is never easy. “We’ve played against him for three years–hell of a player,” Wilcutt said. The Bombers doubled up on him in the second half, though.

Central head coach Todd Pannett had no answer for what the Colts answer was to the Bomber’s run.

“I wish I knew,” he said. “Sometimes we can’t stand prosperity. They’re aggressive and playing hard, then they take their foot off the gas. That’s the time they have to step on it.”

The win leaves John Burroughs at 5-1 going into the tournament final Friday against Chaminade (4-5). Parkway Central (6-3) will face Pattonville (3-4) for third place.