No. 1 St. Vincent-St. Mary boys basketball wins Canton District title defeating No. 2 Alliance (video)

CANTON, Ohio — St. Vincent-St. Mary’s boys basketball team claimed the Division II Canton District championship on Saturday, defeating Alliance 60-51.

The win sends the top seeded Fighting Irish to the Canton regional semifinal to face Ashtabula District champion Lake Catholic on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Memorial Civic Center.

Irish coach Dru Joyce had an important message at halftime as his players trailed, 25-23.

“We weren’t playing St. V basketball,” said Joyce, who won his 11th district championship. “We were giving up easy points and we had a plan going in, but they weren’t following the plan.”

The plan was to feed the ball inside, but Joyce said Alliance (22-3) made it tough for his guys to shoot the ball.

At halftime Joyce said he reiterated that plan before the Irish went on to outscore Alliance, 37-26, in the second half.

VJ King overcame some early shooting woes and finished with a team-high 18 points, nine of which came during the fourth quarter. He also added 10 rebounds and two blocks.

“It was a good test,” King said. “A lot of great players were on the other team and they played so hard. It's fun to play games like that, so it was a great test for us and happy to pull it out.”

Teammate Jalen Hudson followed, scoring 16, and Josh Williams ended the game with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

“I’m pretty excited, but this is not the net we want,” Hudson said after cutting down a part of the basketball net for himself. “We’re looking to win a state championship and that’s what we’re continuing to work to.”

JJ Kukura led second-seeded Alliance, scoring 21. Parrish Martin scored 16.

“Just a great team,” Alliance coach Larry Kukura said about SVSM. “Our kids competed. We knew we were in for a battle tonight. We had our chances. We would have liked to change a few possessions, but I can’t ask for anything more from my team. They played this way all year.”

Joyce said while King, Hudson and Williams were the top scorers tonight he was pleased to get the effort he did from the whole group.

“It’s a team game. Everybody has to play their part,” Joyce said. “Guys stepped up in crucial moments and that’s what you want. It not all about the guys who score, but it’s the guys giving you the hustle plays and that’s what we had.”

Members of the SVSM girls basketball team attended Saturday's boys basketball game after winning the Division II Barberton Regional tournament. Click here for story from the girls win.