Spiders Recruit Vassallo Ignites Victory

A.D. Vassallo, a 6-foot-6, 203-pound forward who signed with Richmond in November, led Faith Christian High School from Hurt, Va. to a 63-56 comeback victory over spunky Daniel Boone High (Reading, Pa. area) in the opening game of the West Virginia Showcase at Shepherd College's Butcher Center.

Vassallo led all scorers with 24 points, had a team-best seven assists and, along with teammate Kintrell Biddle, pulled down a game-best eight rebounds . Biddle, a 6-foot-6, 170-pound senior swingman added 13 points. Senior guard Renaldo Oliver put in 10 points and junior center Oluwaseyi Oseni stifled Boone's offense with six blocks.

Boone was led senior forward John Bokosky's 18 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Sean Butkus, who was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe with all attempts at significant points in the game, added 16 points and had the Blazers' lone block. Sophomore guard Nate Romig topped the assist list with eight.

FCA surged out to an early lead but was caught by Boone when Butkus hit his first two free throws to tie the game at 9-9 with two minutes to go in the opening quarter. He then added a three-pointer to give the Blazers' their first lead at 12-9. Vassallo's three was off the mark but Biddle's hustle got the offensive rebound and Vassallo canned the three on the second chance to re-tie the game 12-12. Vassallo's dunk and Oliver's layup put Faith Christian in the lead 16-12 when the first quarter ended.

A three-pointer by sophomore guard Jeff Sparrow got the lead back for Boone, 19-18 with 5:30 left in the half. Bokosky's layup extended the spread to 21-18 but Vassallo responded with a traditional three point play to tie the game again at 21-21.

A block by Oseni triggered a fast break and the junior from Rochester, N.Y. got rewarded for running the break as Vassallo fed him for a layup and the Lions' 23-21 lead. Butkus' two free throws knotted the score 23-23 with 3:11 on the clock. Junior forward Pete Dinnella's three put the Blazers back on top 26-23 and another three and a layup gave Boone the halftime lead of 31-26.

At halftime, Coach Rich Lambert of Faith Christian reminded his players that they had moved away from the game plan in the first half and were taking quick shots. "We wanted to do what we started and got away from; feeding Oluwaseyi in the post to start our offense." Not to score; Oseni's extremely quick hands moved the ball to teammates. The Lions' much more active defense ignited FCA; but Boone was not to just walk away.

Butkus' jump shot gave the Lions their first lead of the second half, 41-40 with 1:52 left in the third period. Biddle's jumper moved the score to 43-40 as the teams went to the break before the fourth quarter.

In addition to his six blocks, Oseni forced Boone to alter a number of shots. That's how the closing period started as a Boone player radically changed his layup attempt to a very high arc-er that hit the top of the backboard. Butkus' waited for the FCA defender to pass by before his bucket which narrowed the lead to 43-42. Biddle's jumper got a shooter's roll to get the Faith Christian the lead back at 45-42.

At 5:53, Bokosky hit his final free throws and then Romig hit junior forward Shane Rowland whose layup put Boone back in the lead, 46-45 with 5:25 left in the game. Vassallo's three 15 seconds later returned the edge to FCA, 48-46. Sparrow's adjusted layup, a 'throw-in,' tied the game and Romig's leaner over two defenders gave Boone the lead 50-48 with four minutes to go.

Junior swingman Joe Garcia's layup, 'and one,' put Faith Christian up 51-50 only to see Romig's strong drive to the hoop take it away 52-51 with 3:31 to go. Oliver's jumper and Vassallo's fastbreak rim-ringing basket started the Lions' 12-2 run which sealed the nine-point FCA victory.

Boone, though not as tall or athletic as FCA, did a powerful job as a team making the Showcase opener a very exciting match. Faith Christian is now 12-6 and Boone's record is 8-8.