Freemon Leads St. Francis Into Playoffs

In the midst of the low-lying fog that blanketed much of the La Canada area Thursday, there was a storm brewing. And in the eye of the storm was St. Francis High’s Allen Freemon.

Freemon scored 11 of his team’s 16 second-quarter points to bring St. Francis back from a four-point deficit and defeat visiting St. John Bosco, 66-59, in the third-place game of the Del Rey League basketball tournament. Freemon finished with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds.

The win assures St. Francis of a berth in next week’s Southern Section playoffs. Crespi faces Loyola in the title game tonight.

Thursday’s game got off to a stormy start when fans from both schools littered the court with confetti and shredded paper, delaying the tip-off about 10 minutes. The floor was pelted with garbage again at halftime and a fight between students from the rival schools took place outside the gym.

Inside, St. Francis trailed, 14-10, after a quarter but put together a 16-4 second-period run behind Freemon’s 11 points, which included three three-point baskets. St. Francis led, 26-20, at intermission.

St. John Bosco, which was paced by Ron Metoyer’s 16 points, never regained momentum and was outscored, 21-11, in the third period.

Dominick Mumolo, who made one of six free throws in the first quarter, erupted for 10 third-quarter points to lead the Knights’ second-half charge.

Mumolo finished with 15 points and Jeff Dyrek added 12 for St. Francis (14-9, 4-4 in league play).