St. Paul Ends Northwood’s Season

Sophomore guard Rudy Serna made six three-pointers and hit four late free throws as Santa Fe Springs St. Paul beat Northwood, 60-54, in a Division IV-AA semifinal boys’ basketball game Friday at University High.

The Swordsmen, who entered the playoffs as a wild-card team, led by as many as 11 points before taking a 32-25 advantage at halftime.

Northwood (21-8) regrouped and outscored St. Paul, 7-2, to start the third quarter. The Swordsmen (18-13) then built the lead back to five, but Timberwolf guard Drew Terry hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 40-40, and Adam Roggero scored on a layup with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give Northwood only its second lead of the game, 42-40.

The lead was Northwood’s last, however, as St. Paul took a 48-45 lead on consecutive Serna three-pointers to open the fourth quarter.

Northwood closed to within one at 50-49 with 3:50 remaining, but Serna, who finished with a game-high 22 points, made four free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.

The Swordswen were 14 of 16 from the free-throw line for the night.

“[St. Paul] had a lot of brute strength going out there, and we just got beat up,” Northwood Coach Tim O’Brien said. “They turned it into a half-court game, and that, along with the physical play, gave us a lot of problems.”

Terry, averaging 21.3 points a game coming in, was held to 12--two in the first half.

Center Fausto Gonzalez scored 16 and pulled down nine rebounds for St. Paul, which plays top-seeded Encino Crespi for the title Thursday at the Long Beach Pyramid.

Center Rob Selway finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who completed their first varsity season.