The title game in the Sunshine Series, St. Joseph from Northern California takes on reigning state champ Gibbs.  Tounde Yessoufou, a 6’5 senior and Baylor recruit, will be a tough matchup for Gibbs to contain.

Tounde got St. Joseph an early 3-0 lead after a bucket inside and hitting one of two free throws.  Gibbs responded with a driving score from 6’1 senior Jacob Daniels and a three from 6’8 senior Bobby Crawford.  A quick four points from St. Joseph returned the lead to them but back- to-back threes from 6’3 sophomore Oneal Delancey of Gibbs gave them an 11-7 lead with just over two minutes to play.  St. Joseph cut the lead to one but a three from Daniels increased it for Gibbs.  That four point Gibbs lead would hold at the end of the first quarter with the score 18-14.

A 6-1 run for St. Joseph fueled by back-to-back threes, gave them a 23-19 lead less than a minute into the second quarter.  Gibbs cut the margin to two on three different occasions, finally tying the score at 27-27 after a Bobby Crawford putback with under four minutes to play.  A steal and two free throws returned the lead to Gibbs.  St. Joesph tied the score at 29-29 and after a mid-range Delancey jumper, Tounde hit a three to give the lead back to St. Joseph with 2:19 left to play in the half.  Another putback by St. Joseph extended their margin to three.  St. Joseph led by four with a minute to go but a Crawford bucket inside cut the St. Jospeh lead to two and the score at the break was 37-35 in favor of St. Joseph.

The third quarter continued to be a close affair.  St. Joseph maintained a two-point lead at 44-42 with just over four minutes to play.  Back-to-back threes from 6’3 Malcolm Price extended the St. Joseph lead to 50-42.  St. Joseph extended that margin to 55-43 after a three from Tounde.  Gibbs mounted a comeback to get back to within five, 55-50, highlighted by a three from 6’0 sophomore Keyon Wright.  A three from Tounde got the lead back to eight but a dunk inside before the horn by 6’10 junior Mike Broxton made the score 58-52 going into the final period.

St. Joseph put the game away with a 14-2 run over the first three-plus minutes of the fourth.  Tounde couldn’t be stopped, scoring eight points in that run.  Even with the score at 72-54 in St. Joseph’s favor, Gibbs never stopped coming.  However, they could never get the margin under double digits and ultimately St. Joseph would win by the score of 82-71.

Tounde led St. Joseph with 30 points.  Julius Price finished with 20 points and Malcolm Price had 18 points.  As a team, St. Joseph shot 14-25 from behind the arc.

Jacob Daniels led Gibbs with 23 points.  Delancey added 19 and Crawford finished with 16 points.