Saturday night at the Lee College Classic Basketball Tournament Strake Jesuit got just what any Houston-area team would have wanted, a chance to take down defending champion St. Thomas More in the championship game.

During the first half Strake Jesuit may have questioned what they wished for as Louisiana’s St. Thomas More played with a high level of intensity. But the second half was all Strake Jesuit as the Crusaders hustled their way to a 65-52 win and the tournament championship.

Strake Jesuit came out in the second half moving the ball well on offense as their defense stepped up and kept St. Thomas More off stride.

“We didn’t play well the first half,” Strake Jesuit coach Wayne Jones said. “We went into halftime and we really challenged our guys.”

St. Thomas More simply could not match Stake Jesuit’s intensity in the second half. It seemed no matter what adjustment St. Thomas More made Strake Jesuit had an answer for it. Strake Jesuit played very smart team basketball down the stretch as they relied mainly on pure hustle to maintain their lead and earn the win. “We did a great job in the second half, it was a total team effort,” Jones said.

Silver Bracket Championship

Baytown Sterling felt they had done enough to at least extend the Silver Bracket Championship into overtime but a controversial foul at the buzzer allowed Lafayette the sink a free throw and Sterling’s hope for a win.

With the clock expired and sitting at zero, Lafayette’s Xavier Francis calmly sank a free throw to give his Lions a 64-63 win.

Adrian Fontenot had a big third quarter, keeping Sterling out in front for the majority of the second half, but foul trouble sent him to the bench as the third quarter wound down.

Fontenot finished with 25 points.

Lafayette was led by Arsenio Francis' 18 points.

Bronze Bracket Championship

Angleton 59, Brazoswood 56

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