ST. CHARLES • Even before the game started, Westminster's Connor Fleming had a good feeling Tuesday night at Duchesne.
“I really felt great out there tonight,'' the 6-foot-7 senior said. “It started right away -- I only missed a shot or two in warm-ups -- and then carried over into the game. My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball in the right spots, and my shot was falling.
“It was just one of those nights, I guess,'' he said.
Fleming scored a career-high 33 points -- he went 14 for 14 from the foul line -- to help the Wildcats pull away late for a 65-55 victory.
Westminster, ranked fifth among STLhighschoolsports.com small schools, improved to 18-4, while Duchesne slipped to 14-8.
The Wildcats, who were without top scorer John Eric Steiner due to illness, pulled away late Tuesday, outscoring the Pioneers 11-2 over the final 3 minutes 18 seconds of the contest.
“We came up with a couple of key plays, grabbed some rebounds and hit our free throws down the stretch,'' Westminster coach David Klyn said.
“We're a veteran team -- our five starters have been together for the last two seasons -- and I really that experience is huge, especially in tight games like this," Fleming said.
Westminster closed out the opening half with an 8-0 run, taking a 28-25 lead into the break.
Early in the second half, Duchesne used a 10-0 spurt to go up 37-30 when Trevor Tune made one of two free throws with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
Westminster rallied to take 42-40 lead into the final period, thanks to a late inbound play along the baseline in which Fleming passed to Jack Dohr, who passed right back to Fleming for the layup.
With the game tied 44-44, Fleming put Westminster on top to stay with a 3-pointer with 6½ minutes to play.
“We knew this would be a tough game, especially at their place and without our best players,'' Fleming said. “I knew that I'd have to be a little more aggressive tonight at the offensive end, but at the same time, you want to make sure you don't get caught trying to do too much.''
“We needed Connor tonight, and he was there for us," Klyn said.
Duchesne cut the Westminster lead to 54-53 on a pair of Drew Moore free throws with 3:45 left. But the Wildcats pulled away down the stretch thanks to eight late free throws by Fleming.
“I've been real streaky this season. I had one stretch where I made four of 16, but had another three or four-game streak where I made 32 of 34,'' he said. “Tonight, though, everything just seemed to fall into place for us.''
The Wildcats, who connected on 12 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter and 19 of 22 in the game, also got 11 points Dohr.
For Duchesne, Trevor Tune scored 20, and Ryan Tune added 11. Point guard Sam Briscoe scored nine points and had four assists.
“I think our age showed at key times tonight,'' said Duchesne coach Wade Bouslog, who started three sophomores and played two more.
“Overall, we're right where we want to be," Bouslog said. "We're seeded No. 1 in our district, and we have a chance to win the conference title. But the little things continue to hurt us, especially in games like this. We had some costly turnovers and a few defensive breakdowns that led to six or eight points off uncontested layups. And Fleming obviously hurt us; he's a 6-7 kid who creates match-up problems and who does a lot of different things really well.''
Westminster hosts O'Fallon Christian Wednesday and John Burroughs Friday. Duchesne plays Friday at Zumwalt South in a game that is likely to decide the GAC North championship.
