There's no place like home for the St. Xavier Bombers, who bounced back after a tough loss on the road last Tuesday. They had just enough and edged La Salle out 49-47. Given St. Xavier's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while La Salle is ranked 232nd), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. Xavier had a senior duo take command as Andrew Weber scored 17 points along with four steals and Dominic Sidoti scored 13 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Weber has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Brendan Deeley, who scored four points along with four steals.
Donovan Waleskowski, who's played more minutes than anyone else on the Bombers squad sat out for Friday's game. With Waleskowski sidelined, St. Xavier had to make some big changes to the lineup. And. Sidoti made the most of the opportunity, scoring 13 points. A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.
St. Xavier pushed their record up to 13-5 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.0 points per game. As for La Salle, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost seven of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-12 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. St. Xavier won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Wyoming at 5:00 p.m. on February 3rd. As for La Salle, they will be playing at home against Oak Hills at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Oak Hills focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up six on Friday.
