Dave Lombardi was talking about John Cannelli's "zones." They can, the St. Mary's boys basketball coach said, be good zones or bad ones.
"Today was a good zone. Once John gets in a zone, he knocks 'em down," Lombardi said.
Cannelli, a senior with an 11.3 scoring average entering the game, made eight three-point shots and finished with 28 points in host St. Mary's 87-63 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference quarterfinal victory over Spalding yesterday.
The win sends St. Mary's (14-9) into the semifinals against host St. Paul's tomorrow. St. Paul's advanced with a 79-51 win over Park. The championship game will be Saturday at Goucher.
"The last few games I wasn't hitting," Cannelli said. "Coach told me today to keep my confidence up; that if I'm not making them, to keep on shooting."
Cannelli was making them from the start. In the first half alone, he made six three-pointers and had 18 points as St. Mary's raced to a 51-29 lead. His final shot of the first half, from almost midcourt, swished through at the buzzer.
"We don't have records on things like that, but in my four years here nobody has shot like John did today," Lombardi said.
St. Mary's, which has won 12 of its last 14 games, is assured of its best season in five years. The Saints haven't had a winning season since Brian Levy, now a Lombardi assistant, was a senior.
St. Mary's has achieved three of its four goals -- getting a winning record, making the playoffs with the home-court advantage, and finishing first or second in its division during the regular season.
Only St. Paul's stands in the way of the final goal: Making it to Goucher on Saturday.
* St. Paul's 79, Park 51: Garth Timol scored 16 and grabbed 12 rebounds as St. Paul's (19-3) defeated visiting Park (13-6) in a MIAA B quarterfinal.
* Boys' Latin 64, Friends 41: J.D. Radebaugh and Mike DiLonardo scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, to lead Boys' Latin (17-9) over visiting Friends (6-13) in a MIAA B quarterfinal.
* John Carroll 63, Curley 52: Jared Marmen scored 22 points as John Carroll defeated Curley (11-14).