Jimmy Giannetta, St. Joseph dominate 4th quarter to defeat Springdale

By: George Guido
Friday, December 9, 2022 | 9:41 PM

Previous Next

For nearly three quarters, St. Joseph standout Jimmy Giannetta was rather quiet.

But the senior guard exploded for 12 points in a span of nearly four minutes in the second half to spur the host Spartans to a 56-44 victory over Springdale in the first night of the St. Joseph Invitational Tournament at Walter Dlubak Center.

A 3-pointer by Springdale’s Billy Lawrence gave the Dynamos a 37-29 lead with 2:16 left in the third quarter.

A 3 by Ethan Zale cut the Springdale lead to 37-32. Giannetta then went on a tear, scoring the next 12 Spartans points as St. Joseph (3-0) took control of the game.

The Spartans outscored Springdale (1-2) by a 21-7 margin in the final period.

“The key to it all was in the first half when he wasn’t hitting,” Spartans coach Hart Coleman said of Giannetta. “But as I just told the boys, they picked up their game while he was off. They picked up the momentum, especially when we were down by eight.”

The Dynamos trailed through much of the game, plagued by turnovers in the first half. But the Springdale offense came alive in the third quarter with John Hughes scoring seven points and Lawrence five.

“John Hughes really shut down (Giannetta) in the first half and part of the second half,” said Dynamos coach Kobe Phillippi. “He’s a good player, and when he can make tough shots, he’s hard to stop.”

Springdale committed 11 turnovers in the first half to just three for St. Joseph.

“They definitely had a different style than the first two teams we played,” Phillippi said. “It’s a learning curve for us, too, with four new starters. But we’ll get there. This was a good test.”

Said Coleman: “We’ve been working at that very hard as far as keeping our turnovers to a minimum. If we do make a turnover, we want to make sure it’s not a live-ball turnover and we can set back up on our defense, especially in our press.”

Hughes had a steal and a basket midway through the fourth quarter to slice the St. Joseph lead to 45-42, but that was as close as the Dynamos could get.

Giannetta finished with 23 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Zale had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Hughes led Springdale with 16. Mason Gent had 12 points, 12 rebounds and was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.

The Dynamos were solid from the foul line, hitting 15 of 18, including seven straight at one stretch of the second period to stay in the game.

St. Joseph will play in the championship at 8 p.m. Saturday against Winchester-Thurston.

Springdale will take on Propel Andrew Street in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Tags: Springdale, St. Joseph