Around the Horn
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   Mike Madera, who gained fame on this web site during the 2001 FB season as a nutty Wood fan nicknamed "Air Horn Guy," is in our ever-expanding writers' fold. He says he's open to all criticisms. "I'm used to it with my Catholic school background." You may reach Mike at kkvn30@yahoo.com.


MARCH 2
CATHOLIC QUARTERFINAL
Dougherty 80, Wood 62
   How bout the run n gun catholic league north? The loser of north game scored more than the winner of the south game. By the way, the most impressive person in the south game to me was Kashif Payne. He was impressive and his team didnt play too well around him. The South better fear Dougherty. This team can win this league. Wood's biggest concern coming into this game was keeping Dougherty off the offensive glass. They just didnt have enough size to compete. Dougherty had a ton of second chance points, especially in the first half. The score after the first was 16-14 in favor of Doughery. Wood hung around in the second quarter as well, but the lead ballooned to 34-25. DeSean White and Shane Clark had 18 of those 34. Tim Dougherty, playing inside against bigger players, scored 8 in the first half. Doc wants to go to Nova, but if he doesnt for some reason I gotta think theres a small school somewhere that could use him. The size of his heart is incredible. He may not wanna admit it, but hes playin hurt. Hes 6'1(?) and held his own against 6'6 kids. He would do anything for his team, and hes the type a player a coach would love. Anyway, third quarter was Doughertys. they dominated and had a 54-36 lead after it. Wood made some small runs, but never got closer than 11 in the fourth as Dougherty held on for the 18 point win. Clark(14 pts, 5-7 from the floor) and White(16, 6-11) could run wild in this league the next two years. Tim Smink extended his career by scoring 17(5-7, 3-3 from 3). If he could see the basket while shooting, the points were on the board. Mike McDonald scored 9 points on 1 shot(1-1, 1-1 from 3, 6-6 from the line). Pretty nice points per shot ratio. Isaac Greer had 8(3-7, 0-1). Wood was paced by Greg Arrow(16, 7-13, 2-4). Mike Spadafora had 15(5-13, 2-5). Mike finished his career second on Wood's all time scoring list, just 8 behind Tim Whalen. Matty's gonna break it anyway. Tim Doc had 14(6-13, 0-2) before fouling out. Tim Opdyke scored 11(5-9, 1-2). We need to get him in some more pickup games with me at Meyer Way and he'll be fine next year lol. I know Dougherty kids are gonna be on here talkin about Matysik hittin a 3, but he scored more in league this year than Brian Gallagher who had a nice putback to get on the board. And was the skipper all catholic football? I think Gall's got this one. I had a lot of players and coaches come up to me after the game and thank me, but I should be thankin you guys. You're the ones who put a tremendous amount of effort into this on a daily basis, and then went and left it all out every game. Tim Doc didnt have to come back. Mike coulda bitched alot more about his injuries. Gall or Blair (another absolute team player) coulda complained about PT. But they didnt. This team just played hard, up 20 or down 20.Im appreciative I was just there to watch it. Thanks Coach Sette, Coach Schmalbach (second period is dominant), and Coach McCormick for responding to our idiocy every now and then, and that whole "preparing the team" thing lol.  I wanna thank my crowd for not leavin me by myself tonite. People made a 45 minute drive up here, when there was definitely other things to do. People went to the game, went home, and then went to the mother-son dance, or whatever else they had to do. They definitely didnt have to do that. I thought we were the best students tonite, even tho Carrolls fans oddly enough had their moments tonite. Kevin "Chewy" Stapf, Rushir Patel, Paul "Jack" Gorlaski, Lauren Pasquini, Ed Olinik, Patty Riccardi, Ryan "I-Am-Annoying" Tarrant and Ken "All-catholic Bowler" Barker were at most games ,home or away, and even occasionally chanted my inane chants with me so I'd look like less of an ass. Thanks guys. I wanna thank Ted for lettin my come on here and give my sometimes crazy opinion on these games, and givin me a good excuse to go places like Haverford, Kenrick, Wildwood, and all over the Catholic League North.  Good luck to Dougherty and Ryan. Show em we can play in the North.I told Shane Clark to go win the championship, its time to bring it back north. And they will. They will beat Neumann, and then Ryan or Prep. If Clark and White play like they can, this is Doughertys to lose, no question in my mind. Now go make me look smart lol.

FEB. 21
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 69, Conwell-Egan 52
   You may wonder "Why are they playing Thursday?" From what I understand, Egan's Junior Prom is tommorow, so they moved the game. It was senior night at Wood. Wood honored its six senior basketball players (Brian Duross, Jim Crompton, Blair Klumpp, Brain Gallagher, Tim Dougherty, and Mike Spadafora) and 3 senior cheerleaders (Jen Ulrich, Megan Houlihan, and Lauren Pasquini). What's with the cheerleaders gettin honored for football and basketball? I want an answer about this Lauren lol. Anyway, This may be the first time all year Wood had a first quarter lead, and then expanded it at the end of each quarter. Remember Mike Spadafora's recent shooting problems? Forget em. He had 17 in the 1st half, shooting 4-7. Egan couldnt stop him from driving and he had 8 free throws in the first half and made them all (14-16 overall).Andrew Holland had a big second quarter to keep his team in the game. He had 10 in the half, and the Viking lead was 33-21. Holland had 28 for the game (8-17 from the floor, 2-8 from 3, 10-11 from the line). Judge's Ryan Haigh needs 57 on Friday to tie Holland for the North scoring lead. It seems Holland will win that, although I'm sure he was disappointed with his team's record this year. To Egan's credit they never quit, which they very well could have done. Mike Spads added 9 more in the third, and Wood's lead with 8 to go was 53-38. This is where Egan made it too close for comfort, getting to within 8 a couple times, but never closer. Wood pulled away at the end to win by 17. Spads scored 30 (7-14, 2-4) in his last home game. Greg Arrow, who will likely become offensive option one next year, had 20 (7-17, 2-3). Matt Burns had 8 (2-5, 2-4) for the Eagles. Wood's other four seniors all played. I don't think Blair took a shot, but got a lot of minutes and played his role nicely. "Smooth" Crompton had 7(2-5). He almost had another coast-to-coast but he was fouled at about half court, Tim Doc had 6 (2-7), Brian Gallagher got some playing time and went scoreless (0-1). Duross hobbled around on one crutch, giving him the nickname Tiny Tim for the evening. Duross is the one person who occasionally acknowledges the crowd. I love it. That, and he makes second period so much more fun. Wood also honored its senior scorekeeper, Dan Pawlikowski, getting a "Rudy" chant from the crowd. Wood is in the playoffs for the first time since 99 (a controversial game if i remember correctly). They'll probably get Dougherty, unless McD beats Ryan. Stranger things have happened. And with the love between Judge and Wood right now, wouldn't that be a more interesting game anyway? lol.

FEB. 17
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 67, Judge 56
   Hey, I made it through about 20 basketball games this year before completely losing it. The officiating sucked. I said I coulda done a better job blindfolded in the third quarter and I stand behind that 8 hours later. All I'm gonna say it about. Trust me, you don't wanna hear anymore.(Ted probably wouldnt post most of it anyway lol). I think Judge outplayed Wood regardless.  And congratulations to Judge coach Bill Fox, who I said some things about that I probably shouldnt have and Im pretty sure the whole gym heard it. I was pretty annoyed. I'm loud and unruly when annoyed.  Anyway the first half was good. It was nice to watch a team who looks to "run" (run in CL North terms of course) after watching La Salle and Ryan slow it down. Ryan Haigh had 13 in the first half to carry the Crusaders to a 29-25 lead at the half; a half I thought was very entertaining. Judge had a big run in the quarter (with a little help) and opened up a decent sized lead. They led 44-33 after the third, and Wood was never closer than 6 in the 4th quarter. The Vikings just couldnt get a big defensive stop when they needed one, and Judge seemed to own the boards. Wood was also only 16-26 from the line, and their usually better than that. This put Judge in the playoffs, and a probable first round meeting with Ryan, who beat them twice. Wood can get the 4th spot by beating winless-in-league Egan on Thursday. Scary game actually. Egan could play like they dont care, or could play like its their championship game. Im gonna be honest with you, I'm missing two Judge points. I'm pretty sure its two free thows at the end while I was flippin out. I had a nice Sunday afternoon. Haigh led all with 23 (9-15, 4-6). How good of a defender is Bilal Benn from Dougherty. He shut Haigh down twice.  Jim Glowienka had his highest output of the season at 12 (1-3), with the help of 10-12 from the line. Kevin Pierce also had 10 (3-7, 1-4). Wood was paced by Fr. Matt Spadafora (The two Judge students wanted to know where our freshman was? Hes right there, second in the game in scoring), who had 16 (5-8, 0-1). Mike Spadafora had 13 (5-15, 0-3) and Greg Arrow had 10 (4-13, 2-4). Senior Blair Klumpp had his best offensive game of the year scoring 9 (2-4, 0-1). Tim Dougherty had his worst game of his comeback, as he missed some shots he usually makes and scored only 3 (1-9, 0-3). He was 1-5 from the line. He'd probably be mad at me if I didn't mention that.

FEB. 15
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 49, La Salle 47 (OT)
   Life is pretty good at Archbishop Wood right now. A championship, a girls basketball team that is close to clinching its first Northren Division in 12 years, and a boys basketball team that keeps winnin games that seem out of reach. Great atmosphere. Gym was packed, with great fan support and participation from both sides. La Salle is running a Ryan-esque offense without injured star Rob Sullivan. It's like Ryan in that they slow it down, pass it around, look for an open three, and if it fails throw it into the post. They had a 12-11 lead after a quarter, and the lead slightly balloned to 20-18 after the second quarter. The Spadaforas and Kevin Moll led all scorers with 6 apiece at the half.  For all that think Mike Spadafora only scores and does nothing else need to come watch a game right now. For whatever reason his shot hasn't been there lately, but he is still contributing so many ways. He only scored 12 (5-18, 1-3 from 3) tonight, but he gets key rebounds, makes big passes, and does the little things like save loose balls. Anyway the third quarter belonged to Wood as they appeared ready to win this game. They took a 34-29 lead into the final quarter, and had a lead as big as 7 going down the stretch. But La Salle clawed back into it. Matt Spadafora (14, 4-8, 1-1) made 4 free throws down the stretch and Wood had a three point lead when LaSalle got the ball for a final shot down 42-39. They passed around and Chris Reedman (12, 3-9, 2-4) drilled a three to tie it. To OT for a second straight game. La Salle, with baskets by Reedman, Bill Furey (8, 4-8), and a free throw by Doug Kelly (10, 2-4, 6-10 from the line), had a 47-44 lead and it looked bad for Wood. Then Tim Dougherty came alive. Doc (6, 3-8), got an offensive rebound and made a tough layup to make it a one point game. On the next possession, Mike Spadafora gave him a nice pass for another layup and suddenly Wood was up one. After a Mike Spadafora steal, Wood got the ball back and Matt Spadafora stepped to line with 4 ticks left on the clock. He made the first, missed the second. Kevin Moll (12, 4-11, 3-7) took a half court shot that was barely short and Wood held on for a two-point win. Greg Arrow had another good game for the Vikings, scoring 13 (4-7, 2-2). Matt McGurkin, who played a big part in beating Wood the first time, didnt score this time (0-3, 0-3). Judge plays at Wood Sunday to see who doesn't have to play Dougherty in the first round. La Salle is hoping Wood wins that game, and they beat Egan. Then LaSalle gets a chance to force a playoff for the playoffs against the Crusaders. I'm sure LaSalle wouldn't like to pin its hopes on Egan beating Wood on Wood's senior night next Thursday for a chance at a playoff. La Salle could also have a shot at the playoffs if the Explorers beat Egan and Judge, and Ryan loses to North and McDevitt. La Salle should just root for a Wood win Sunday. It makes things easier. Playoff scenarios are fun. Second time in 9 days we went to LaSalle's gym and left with a big win. Good times. We left the "This Is Our House" sign, painted beautifully by myself, hanging in the gym, but a parent took it down. Why deny the obvious?

FEB. 10
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 65, Ryan 63 (3 OTs)
   Have there been better games in the North this year than the 4 Wood/Ryan, Dougherty/Judge games? Could there be a better playoff doubleheader? Just a little wishful thinking. This was a game that you knew would be close, but you couldn't possibly imagine this. You know how the coach in Hoosiers had that 4-pass rule? Well, Ryan has like an eight-pass rule. But they don't really have anyone to create their own shot, and they are effective. They had a 24-18 halftime lead. Foul trouble was a big part of the first half. Chris Kozole got two early for Ryan, and Tim Dougherty got his third with about 4 minutes left in the half. Andy MacDonald had 7 first half points, then made his first FG of the second half, then did a Houdini and didnt make a FG until the third OT. He was 1-5 from the line in regulation and 5-11 for the game. Tim Doc got foul 4 at the end of the third quarter, and it was 30-29 Ryan going into what was supposed to be the final 8. Now to the fun stuff. Ryan led 41-38 with a minute to go when Wood got the ball. Tim Dougherty (9 pts, 3-8) had fouled out by now and Kozole had 4. After a few passes, Greg Arrow (17 pts, 4-8, 2-6) got an open look at a 3 and drianed it to tie the score. After Ryan milked the clock down, Mike Devine (14. 5-14, 2-8) missed a three and we went to overtime one. Wood controlled the first OT, leading by as much as 5 at one point. But Ryan made some big 3s, which would be the theme of the OTs, and they had the ball again in the final minute with a chance to win. This time Kozole (5 pts, 2-9, 1-2) drove and missed and we went to overtime number 2, tied at 48 You may have noticed I haven't mentioned Mike Spadafora yet. Mike had what was probably his worst offensive game of the year to this point and had only 10 points. He dominated overtime two. Wood had 9 points. Mike had 7. And gave Tim Opdyke (2, 1-2)a beautiful pass for a layup for the other 2. Ryan led this OT from start to finish, and had a 57-54 lead as the final minute approached. Mike Spads calmly dribbled up court, stepped back, and drilled a 3 a couple feet behind the line in the face of a defender (Kozole I believe). The gym went nuts -- well, nuts for a Sunday afternoon game anyway. So here was Ryan, with the ball with a chance to win again.  Kozole drove and couldn't convert. Wood called timeout with 2.9 remaining. Inbounding from underneath their own basket, they ran a play to get the ball past halfcourt, and called time again with 2.1 seconds left. Nice call Coach Sette. Anyway, the inbounds then went to Greg Arrow who almost banked a 3 home for the win. To OT 3 we go. Ryan made two more big 3s in this overtime. Matt Spadafora (14, 5-8, 1-1) scored to put Wood ahead. We enter the final seconds with a chance for Ryan to take it again. Kozole missed again. But, after Wood turned it over, Ryan got another shot. This time Socks the MVP candidate (You may also find it curious that the guy who guarded the ball every possession and had 4 fouls going into an OT filled with fouls didn't foul out. All I have to say about that.) didn't even touch the ball. Devine took  a 3 to win it, but it wouldnt drop, and it was finally over. Incredible game. I dont think I could possibly describe to you how incredible this game was. Four players fouled out. From Ryan, Brendan O'Malley (15 pts) and Joe Mullin (9), and Tim Doc and Tim Opdyke from Wood. Wood was led by Mike Spadafora (17, 4-13, 2-3, 7-8 from the line), Ryan by MacDonald (15, 5-9) and O'Malley .Chris Kozole plays his role perfectly. He passes, rebounds, gets steals, and plays good defense. He had the ball in his hands four times with a chance to win, he converted zero. He is a definite all-Catholic, but enough of the MVP talk. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I think Mike Spadafora may have pushed ahead in the MVP race today. He couldn't buy a shot for 36 minutes, then goes 3-3 for 7 in a second overtime, and shoots 7-8 from the line. He wouldn't let his team lose. Ryan wouldn't let him take a shot in the third OT. Greg Arrow and Matt Spadafora also made clutch shots. Ryan had a bunch of huge threes, coming from Jim Welsh, O'Malley, Devine, and Kozole also had 1. These players played a game 2 days ago and still were performing at a high level in the 44th minute of this game. Tremendous effort on both sides.

FEB. 8
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 60, North 57
   We, in admiration of course, call Jim Crompton the Big Smooth. Mostly because he isnt very smooth when playing, but he does play the saxophone and isn't that the definition of smooth really? Anyway, Cromp was all over tonight. He led Wood with 19 (8-11 from the floor), and had 2 steals, one of which he took coast to coast for a layup. Neither team shot particularly well, and Wood led 21-20 after a half. The score was 34-28 Vikings going to the fourth, when the game picked up. Actually it took about 6 more minutes to pick up. Wood led by 8 with about 2:30 to go, but North refused to go away. They started making shots and forced a few turnovers, and suddenly were within two. Mike Spadafora (14 pts, 4-16. 0-3 from 3) struggled with his shot all night, but hit 5-6 from the line down the stretch. North got the ball with a chance to tie, and Charlie Evans (15 pts, all in the second half, 6-11, 1-4) got a decent look at a 3. He missed and Crompton came down with the rebound, effectively ending the game. North more than doubled its offensive output of the first 3 quarters in the fourth. I've seen this team twice and they've almost beaten Wood both times. I can't believe they only have 2 league wins. Donnie Welte had 13 (4-13,1-4), and Charlie Hook had 12 (3-10, 1-3) for the Falcons, who shot 5-15 from three. Tim Dougherty had his best game for Wood since returning, starting and scoring 17 (5-10, 0-1). They probably don't win this game if he doesn't play. Very cool gym. Even at the top of the bleachers you're still on top of the court. Big game Sunday for Wood against Ryan at home, North gets La Salle.

FEB. 3
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 67, Wood 52
  
This game was alot closer than the score. Matt Spadafora had a steal, and if he would have converted on the other end, it would have been a 4 point game with 1:30 left. The first half was all DeSean White and Shane Clark from Dougherty. White, who still has his wrist taped, had  8 in the first half and Clark scored 11. Mike Spadafora also had 8 opening half points and Tim Dougherty had 7 for Wood. Wood let Mike McDonald have wide open looks, and he couldnt convert them. He was was 2-7 in the first half, and 1-5 from 3. He finished with 5. McDonald played less in the second half, maybe that was the reason. The third quarter was scoreless until a foul was called on Shane Clark, and Clark slammed down the ball for a technical. Wood made 3-4 from the line to make the score 34-31. Wood won the third quarter and trailed by just 4 going into the 4th. But the fourth started with Tim Smink (13 pts, 4-6 fgs, 2-3 from 3) hitting a three, then Isaac Greer had his only field goal of the game (2, 1-6, 0-1) and suddenly it was a 9 point game. Dougherty's defense is very good. They get in passing lanes, block shots, and Bilal Benn (8, 4-4) just doesnt let people by him. If someone catches the ball underneath, they better hurry because the Cardinals collapse so fast. Dougherty shot free throws well down the stretch, and Wood had a few shots that just wouldnt go down. Clark finished with 22(7-10, 0-1) and White had 12(4-9) off the bench. Tim Dougherty couldnt find his shot in the second half (fatigue maybe?) and finsihed with 7 (3-9, 1-4). When he gets into playing shape this team can be very good. He played major minutes today, and it was only his second game in 6 weeks. Mike Spadafora led all scorers with 23 (7-25, 1-3). The defense forced him into a lot of tough shots, and took away his penetration with a few first half blocks. He became more a jump shooter than usual. Greg Arrow had 8 (3-11, 2-7) and Jim Crompton had 7 (3-6). Wood show! ed alot today. I know its Super Bowl Sunday but the "Looney Bin" was empty. They had 2 loud kids and not much else. Wood had a 5 person student section, consisting of me, Rushir, Chewy, Spads' girlfriend Lauren, and Jack, the Spad-o-Meter worker. I actually liked not havin many people there. This way individuals could yell back and forth at each other in the stands and it was understanable. Good stuff. I liked the 2 person Looney Bin over the Abyss and un-Krazy Korner for one reason, it wasnt all chants, it was heckling too. Being a heckler myself, I appreciate that. It was a pretty quiet second half on both cheering sections though. Dougherty is the class of the North, I hope we can all see that now, and Wood is ready for a serious run. Dougherty gets a chance at revenge against Judge on Friday, Wood goes to North. I keep gettin told thats a great gym to watch a game.

FEB. 1
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 60, McDevitt 48
  
Tim Dougherty has returned!!! Im probably more excited about that than most reading this, but its a big deal. For those who don't know, Doc missed nearly six weeks when, trying to take a charge against Carroll's Kashif Payne, he ruptured his spleen. He was, and hopefully will return to being, Wood's number 2 guy behind Mike Spadafora. He is back literally ASAP. Doctors said 6 weeks at the earliest, and here he is. He got a big response from the crowd when he entered with about 1:30 left in the opening quarter. Anyway, Wood had a very good first quarter all around and led 17-8, and I kinda had the feeling this was gonna be the 32 minute complete game I have yet to see from the Vikings. But they didnt play as well in the second quarter, and despite Sr. G Mike Spadafora only having four points, Wood led 26-21 at the half. Wood picked it up again in the third quarter to lead 40-30 going into the final eight minutes, which has become Spadafora time. Whenever games seem to be in question, he takes over 4th quarters. He had 7 points entering the quarter, and he finished it with 16 (6-13 shooting, 1-4 from 3). The play the I think broke McD was, with the lead at eight, Wood forced a turnover. Greg Arrow (10 pts, 3-7, 2-2 on clutch 3s) and Mike Spads had a 2 on 1 and Arrow seemed to have commited to shooting. Arrow then made a behind the back pass to Mike who made the layup and was fouled. The lead was then 11, and the game never seemed in doubt after that. Tim Doc had 10 (5-8) and had 2 good blocks playing center in a zone. Matt Spadafora had 8 (3-4, 1-1) and Jim Crompton had 7(3-4), all in the first half. I havent mentioned a Lancer yet, mostly because no one on their team stuck out to me. Bill Holden led them with 12 (4-14, 2-8). Chris Hanes had 11 (5-13, 1-6), Anton Stewart had 10 (5-11) and so did Isaiah Pinckney (2-13, 0-9). They were 4-25 from three. Quick math says that's about 16%. They took about 4 or 5 of those 3s in the last two minutes as they tried to catch up, but they took a lot of rushed and wild ones before that. I didnt see the Ryan game, but I think this is the best game I've seen Mike Spadafora play all around in league. He didn't shoot that well, but he played good d and had a lot of assists. He tells me the coach who keeps that stat says 7, but he set a lot of people up for easy shots off penetration. McD had more people at Wood then I thought, but they stood on the same set of bleachers as us but at the other end, making chants much harder to hear. A lot of the same chants as last time. They chanted "your chants suck" and we said "your team sucks", which i liked. The second half we did alot of "You cant beat us", and McD was a lot quieter than the first half. We did na na na na hey hey hey goodbye, which was nice. My personal favorite was a "Where's Pinckney" chant in the third quarter before he had scored anything, and he proceeded to airball a three. Makes you feel like you're having an impact, even if it was a coincidence. Second star player to come in our gym and play terrible though (along with Rob Sullivan, who I would have really liked to play again, he's a real good player.) McD kid were led out while Wood kids were supposed to wait, and the McD kids just stood at the door.

JAN. 27
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
  Since Im bored and home sick, I figured id give my thoughts through a half season of Catholic League North basketball. Ill start off by ranking the teams in my opinion.
  1. Dougherty-As much as I hate to say it, they're probably the only real title contender in the North. They can go inside and out to score, have 4 legit scoring threats, and play solid defense. Could win the rest of their league games.
  2. Judge-Have the ability to shoot the lights out, and can get a big win, being the only team to beat Dougherty. Live by the 3, Die by the three though. I mean they beat Dougherty and lose to McD?
  3. Wood- Wood, LaSalle, and Ryan are all very close. Itll be fun to watch the playoff race. I put Wood third because they have the best player in Mike Spadafora, and their health issues may improve in the second half. Not to mention Jim Crompton is becoming a legit inside threat, and not many North teams have that.
  4. LaSalle- Sullivan is a player. Anyone who can shoot 1-17 and still score his is fine by me. When I saw them, the role players were huge. They play tough defense and rebound the ball
  5. Ryan- Again 3-5 are very close and I could be totally wrong about this. I just dont like Ryan as much as LaSalle or Wood. They dont have the guy who could score 30 any given day like Wood and LaSalle. I know their 5-2 and beat LaSalle and Judge, but i just think they will be the team left out.
  6. McDevitt-played alot like Judge but without the quality of shooter. Still in the playoff race and could be a huge spoiler if they have a night where the threes are fallin. They are dangerous. Have one nice win against Judge, but lost to Ryan, LaSalle and Wood, the three teams they are gonna be fighting with for the playoffs.
  7. North- They have lost 6 straight, but get a chance to end that against Egan on friday. They really could use a big guy inside. They jack up the threes, and also could be a spoiler if they shots fall one night.
  8. Egan-Andrew Holland and.... I think theyre gonna have trouble winning a game. Never wanna see a team go winless, but theyre gonna have to play better to win a game. Have no solid second scorer, and turn the ball over alot.
My All-Catholic picks
First Team(in no particular order)
Mike Spadafora-Wood
Rob Sullivan-LaSalle
Ryan Haigh-Judge
Isaac Greer-Doughety
Andrew Holland-Egan
The first three are probably as close to locks as you can be halfway through a season. There should be a Dougherty player, and I like Greer over Clark for the simple reason that I just liked watchin him play more. I dont know how much Hollands chances will be effected by his team's play, but he is a good player, is always the main, and maybe only, concern of the other teams defense, and has to try and carry that team.
Second team(Again in no particular order)
Chris Kozole-Ryan
Isaiah Pickney- McDevitt
Shane Clark-Dougherty
Donnie Welte-North
Kevin Pierce-Judge
Third team(In particular order-just kidding)
Mike McDonald-Dougherty
Greg Arrow-Wood
Andy McDonald-Ryan( who is a legit second team canidate)
Doug Kelly-LaSalle
Chris Hanes-McDevitt
(Respect the coaches...pickin a third team is hard, there are 3-4 guys i could think who deserve to be there)
MVP-Haigh through the first half because his team has the best record. Sullivan and Mike Spadafora could easily win it.
Coach of the year- This is a tough call...ill give it to Bernie Rogers from Ryan.
Best pure point- Mike Mcdonald, Dougherty. He may have been my favorite opposing player to watch so far this year. To distribute that ball to all that talent and keep them realtively happy and sacrifice most scoring opportunities for yourself is what a great point does.
Best big man- Shane Clark, Dougherty will be a monster in a couple years. Hell, hes a monster now.
Best Freshman- In the North its Matt Spadafora, Wood....if you guys think Mike is good now...
Guys lay off Amar about rankings, especially freshman rankings. We see certian players, but if anyone has seen as much of them or as mant of them as Amar, you should be writing on here.

JAN. 25
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 63, Conwell-Egan 42
  
Mike Spadafora made his point early. Wood wasnt going to lose a third straight game. He had 11 first quarter points on 5-5 shooting, and Wood lead after eight, 14-5. Egan played better in the second quarter, Wood played worse, and Egan clawed back into the game. If you haven't seen Egan, Andrew Holland is offensive option 1, 2, and 3. I know his All-Catholic chances probably will be hurt by his team's record, but he's all they got reeally.He had 10 1st half points and Egan had 18. The intermission score was 20-18, but Egan could have easily led if they woulda taken better care of the ball. Greg Arrow, who had 8 points his last two games, had a scoreless first half, but his shots finally started to fall in the second half. He made a two and a three to start the half, and ended with 13(4-11, 1-4 3fgs). Wood scored 23 third quarter points after scoring just 20 in the first half. Egan had 15 third quarter points after just 18 in the opening half, and the lead for Wood going into the 4th was 43-33. As the fourth quarter started, Egan began doubling Mike Spadafora, who had 23 through 3, at the top, basically challenging anyone else on the floor to make shots. And they did. Jim Crompton, who has become a pretty reliable threat inside, had 10 in the second half, 11 for the game (4-10). Matt Spadafora had 7(2-7, 1-1) and Blair Klumpp had 4(1-4). Mike only took two fourth quarter shots and still finished with 25 (10-16,0-1). Andrew Holland paced an overmatched Egan team with 22 (7-14, 3-7). The rest of the team was 7-24. Next was Dan Gibney with 7 (3-7) then a couple ex-Wood students Ryan O'Hara and Greg Klausa with 4 and 3 respectively. Klausa took lots of abuse from the Wood crowd, including a very loud "Klaaaausa" chant, and a "We want klausa" chant when he was taken out. There was also the obligatory heckling. One of our fans liked telling O'Hara he was only there because he couldn't make Wood's JV team. We also suggested Egans offense just hurry up and pass to Holland because thats what they were gonna do anyway. After one of those remarks, someone out loud commented "Someone needs to throw that kid off the balcony" towards one of the people running the Spad-o-meter, who was also my ride. Basically, our crowd went and dominated another gym. The only unfortunate thing is the only fans who we haven't seen yet and get a lot of pub are Dougherty's and that game is Super Bowl Sunday and I have a feelin the crowd will be less than usual. Oh well. It'll be a big weekend for the 4-3 Vikings, with McD at home and Dougherty on the road. It seems every game had and will have huge playoff ramifications, and it makes it that much more fun and entertaining for the fans. I'm sure the players would rather be assured of a playoff spot though.

JAN. 20
CATHOLIC NORTH
Judge 68, Wood 53
  
Judge shot 23-44 and 12-15 from 3. That's all that really needs to be known. Ryan Haigh had 17 in the first half and had 22 in the game (9-17, 4-5 from three). Kevin Pierce had 12 in the first 16 minutes on 4-4 from 3. He finished with 13. John King added 7  and Tom Keenan had 12. Judge had 41 points at half and led by 12. They continued lights out in the third and had the lead at or around 20 for most of the second half. For Wood. Mike Spadafora had 13 (4-11. 0-2). Jim Crompton had 11 (5-9) and Tim Opdyke had 12(5-10), 10 in the first half. Matt Spadafora and Greg Arrow had the same performance they did against LaSalle, 7 combined points, 3 and 4 respectively. I was kinda disappointed by the Abyss. They do all this talkin, they have a lot of people at the game, but they make very little noise. They had one chant I could clearly hear from midcourt (saying "haircut" to Blair Klumpp, who has a nice 'fro goin and still made both free throws into the Abyss). Their two biggest cheers were when Joe Lorenti hit a FG, and when Matt Spadafora seemed to try and dunk in the final minute and missed. Which was fine, because Wood crowds would react similar. But that was it. They were killin' us most of the game, and they weren't hecklin' or anything. It was like the Kenrick crowd I saw; lots of people little noise. Wood had 9 students and I thought we made more noise. They weren't bad, they just didnt meet the hype. Judge kids can commence tearing me apart now.

JAN. 18
CATHOLIC NORTH
La Salle 57, Wood 49
  
Ugly, but entertaining. Shooting was atrocious most of the game. Mike Spadafora had 14 of Wood's 23 first half points, 10 in the opening quarter, and, after a buzzer beater by Wood's Blair Klumpp, Wood held a 23-19 lead at intermission. LaSalle's MVP canidate, Rob Sullivan, was 0-9 from the floor and 1-4 from the line in the first half. And the crowd was all over him. My favorite was "Sullivans our best defensive player". We also had a few 0-11, 0-12... chants goin' on. Rumor has it Sullivans dad told a student that we had one of the best cheering sections hes ever seen. Our seniors stood the entire game and we made a lot of noise.Wood led 25-24 when LaSalle started to make a few shots to go on an 8-0 run and lead 32-25. Then La Salle went back to ugly shooting, and Wood went on an 11-0 run and led 36-32. Sullivan still hadn't made a shot through three. Then Matt McGurkin came in. No offense to Matt, but he looks like a 7th grader. He didn't play like one. Matt had 11 Varsity points all season before tonite. He made a three in the first half, then calmy sank another out of the corner to give LaSalle a 42-40 lead with 3 minutes to go. Teams then traded free throws, La Salle's by McGurkin. He had to be done right? Nooo. He drained another three from the corner to make the score 46-41 and Wood never recovered. Sullivan finally made a shot with five minutes to go, after missing 14. He was 1-16 (0-5 from three) from the floor, and missed some very makeable shots. But he had 13. La Salle executed inbounds plays to get him to line every time, where he went 11-15. He made 9-10 in the last minute and a half. Mike Spads led everyone with 24 (6-16, 2-5 from 3), and kept Wood in the game, but a great free throw shooter missed 3 free throws late. Wood's other two scorers, Greg Arrow and Matt Spadafora had 7. Combined. Arrow had 4 (2-8) and Matt had 3 (1-6). Arrow left with about thirty seconds left, clutching his stomach. Waaaay too similar to Tim Dougherty's injury. The chances are probably pretty slim, but it was eerie. And Wood can't afford to lose another starter. Wood's other source of offense was Kevin Oliver off the bench with 10 (3-5). La Salle got fourteen from Kevin Moll (4-8, 3-5), and 11 from Doug Kelly (3-5). My "Take a step in" award for the night goes to Chris Reedman of the Explorers. His first 5 shots were missed threes. To his credit, he did step in and didn't take another 3 for the rest of the night. I'm starting to think Wood plays a lot different from other North teams, because they dont shoot many threes. They only took eight, five by Mike Spadafora, and three of them were in the final moments. La Salle took 19.

JAN. 11
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 67, N. Catholic 62
    North likes to shoot threes. If they get a look at a 3, its goin up. They took 24 for the game and made 8. Craig Lonergan particularly enjoyed the shot, shooting 2-6 all from three, for 6 points. Other notable three point shooters were Donnie White. who did lead North with 17(5-14 fgs, 3-8 from 3). Charlie Evans scored 15 and took 6 3s, making 1(6-18 fgs). In their defense they dont really have an inside scorer to pass into, but take a step in guys. Anyway the first quarter was back and forth and very entertaining and Wood took a 18-15 lead out of it. The stayed in that 3-8 point range almost completely through, and Wood's halftime lead was 34-26. Wood C Jim Crompton had a big first half scoring 8 on 3-3 shooting. He had 12 in the game (5-6). But he was not the winner in the "Who will Wood's second scorer be?" contest. That went to Mike Spadafora. who didn't lead the team in scoring(I think) for the first time since he was out. Mike had 16(6-15, 0-1) and continued to play the point guard role very nicely. His brother Matt, who never seems to score much but almost always does, had 14(5-9). But Wood's Greg Arrow was on fire. He was 6-8 from the floor in the first half, and 3-5 in the second to score 19. If Wood has 4 scorers in double figures I really cant imagine them losing. White a half court shot at the buzzer of third to cut Wood's lead to 49-47. Then, a minute into the fourth, Mike Spadafora got his 4th foul and came out. I thought the North run was gonna come. It didnt. The Falcons got to within two, but Wood was able to hold them off, and again the Vikings made their free throws down the stretch. If theres one thing this team can do, its shoot free throws. Intresting game at Ryan on Sunday, but unfortunately im missin it. Ill back for LaSalle next Friday.

JAN. 6
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 70, Wood 50
   If someone told me DeSean White would have 5 pts (2-4 fgs), I would have thought Wood would have been in this. They weren't. The Cardinals were up 15-0 when Greg Arrow (9 pts, 3-8 fgs, 2-3 on threes) made a free throw.  It was 19-7 after a quarter and 41-20 at the half. I don't remember any point at which Wood was within ten.  White had 3 fouls with over 4 minutes to go in the first half, and didnt really play at all. Tim Smink came out on fire for Dougherty scoring 8 in the 1st and 13 overall(5-9. 3-4) I think he missed one open shot all game. Shane Clark had 15(7-9) but Isaac Greer led the Cardinals with 21 (7-10, 3-4). Wood tried zoning this team up, and I can't imagine anyone in the North being able to stop this team except for Dougherty themselves. You can't just guard the perimeter or the inside you have to do both. And they just dont miss open shots. I thought they looked better than Carroll. Wood got down early and then just kinda waited for Mike Spadafora to take over, and he tried. He took a lot of tough shots and led the Vikings with 12 (6-17, 0-5). His brother Matt had 10 (5-9) and the no one else had more than 5. Tim Opdyke, who played so well at McD, scored only 2(1-7, 0-2). To their credit, Wood played hard to the final buzzer but Dougherty was just better today. They had two big games back to back and they came out flat today and didn't give themselves a chance.

JAN. 4
CATHOLIC NORTH
Wood 62, McDevitt 50
   This game was heavily hyped, mostly by McD fans, on this site. I will get to the fans after I talk about the game. McD came out and looked pumped up. This team's offensive plan seems to be to pass it around the perimeter until they get an open 3, and in the first quarter Mark Finley made two. Finley shot mostly 3s, shooting 4-11 overall and 4-8 from 3 for his 12 points. Bill Holden also shot mostly 3s, going 2-8 overall and 1-5 from three. I wish i would have kept track of airballs because those two airballed about as many as they made. Mike Ross had a good first half for the Lancers scoring 9. He had 13 for the game(4-6 fgs). Point guard Isaiah Pinckney paced McD with 13 (5-15, 3-7 from three), and McD led 25-20 at the break. McD outplayed Wood in the opening half, and had a lead as big as 9, but the second half was a different story. Wood dominated the third and led 37-36 going into the fourth. Mike Spadafora struggled with his shot in this game, going 6-15. But the good sign there is only 15. He didn't force shots and made a lot of nice passes. McD's press led to open floor opportunities and Mike distributed the ball and still scored 17. I had the rest of Wood shooting 19-29. Jr. Tim Opdyke, now starting due to the injuries (Duross and Tim Doc), missed his first shot. He then made his next 6 and scored 14 for the game, vindicating the talent showcased at the Meyer Way basketball courts. Greg Arrow had a big second half and scored 15(6-10, 1-1) Sr. Jim Crompton and Fr. Matt Spadafora added eight. Wood pretty much controlled the forth quarter, as McD never got closer than five in the closing minutes and Wood held a 12 point edge at the end. A big story in this one was free throw shooting. Wood was a solid 11-15, and McD was a horrendous 7-16. Also there was a lot of slipping on the floor. Now to the extracirricular activites. I got there as the girls game (Won by Wood in OT) was winding down, and it started then. After a "Go home Wood chant", the 6 Wood students decided to chant "10-7", referring to the football playoff game. Apparently this bothered McD DL Dustin Lahiff as he got in my face and said "if you gonna chant, go to the other side. " We had all intentions of going to the other side because we had to hang the Spad-O-Meter (which we werent allowed to tape to the wall which seemed a bit ridiculous to me...two people held it up through the game), but that made us stay around a bit longer. McD had a "We have Erin Flynn"chant (who is Dusty's Girlfriend and goes to Wood but sat on the McD side). To which we responded "You can have her". We chanted "Holden fumbled", refering to his overtime fumble in the first Wood-McD football game. McD responded "We love Holden",and we answered "So do we". Every time Mike Spads got the ball McD chanted "Overrated". His girlfriend pointed out it was odd they double teamed him whenever he had the ball though. They tried to make fun of our football team, but chants of "10-7" and "we beat you twice" usually stopped that. They had a lot of "we are winning" chants but after they lost the lead . . . We had about 40 students there and they boasted they had a better crowd, but they didnt make a 35 minute drive on a Friday nite to be there. If you're wondering what the big surprise they had planned for me was, it was kazoos. Yes, they had kazoos. It almost intimidated me. We also called Finley and the cheerleaders ugly, but I had my favorites. My favorite from McD was "Where is Madera?". Just boosts my ego some more. Thanks guys. I also enjoyed "We have air horn guy" from my classmates. We chanted "Where is Silary?" and they weren't happy when I explained Ted wasn't coming. The cops made Wood use one exit and McD use another after the game. We were basically given a police escort. I'm sure McD is gonna say their fans were better, and I believe ours were, especially for a road game. I would put more of their chants, but the ones i could actually understand were usually just said 10 times over. And they sang along to "Were not gonna take it anymore" in pregame. But they took it from us again.

DEC. 27
WILDWOOD TOURNAMENT
Wood 57, Millville 56
    I got in Wildwood early enough to see Ryan play Shawnee, who beat Wood by 11 the previous night. Ryan was down 13-0, Shawnee then played like they didn't care, Ryan got to within 4 and Shawnee won 42-27. It was possibly the most boring game ever. It was 26-22 with 4:45 to go. Anyway, Wood jumped to a 7-0 lead, but Millville led 22-14 after a quarter as Tim Bowser (15 pts, 15-8 fgs, 1-1 3s) hit a 3 as the buzzer sounded. Millville extended its lead a little in the second, but it was a pretty even quarter and the halftime score was 33-21 in favor of the Thunderbolts. In the third, the game continued to stay in the 8 to 12 point range most of the way, and Millville led 43-33. The biggest story of the third was Wood Sr. Brian Duross magically falling on a layup attempt (must have been magic because he wasn't fouled). He was down for a minutes but walked off on his own power and seemed all right, but didn't return. [TED'S NOTE: Brian suffered a suspected tear to his ACL on the play mentioned here. Just one of those things. We wish him well and Air Horn Guy apologizes for making light of it.] Then the game got fun. Wood Sr. Mike Spadafora took over in the fourth. He had a four point play midway through the quarter which prompted chants of MVP! MVP! from the Wood faithful (OK it was just me as my friend Chewy stared at me like I was an idiot. Spads' girlfriend and her friend rounded out the Wood students). Millville couldnt make a free throw in the fourth quarter, except for Harvey Blewitt, who was 5-6 from the line in the period. He had 9 fourth quarter points and 13 for  the game. The rest of the team was 2-8 in the quarter, and that kept Wood in the game. Mike Spadafora made a 3 with 2:40 to go, making the score 51-48 Millville. That gave him 1000 career points, and they stopped the game, making Millville's coach very pleased. The Bolts lead was four heading into the final minute when Mike Spadafora drove and dished to an open Sr. Blair Klumpp, who was fouled on his layup and converted the 3 point play. Klumpp, who had been starting recently, didnt play until Jr. Tim Opdyke (4 pts, 2-4) fouled out in the 4th. He was one of three players to foul out, the others being Wood Sr. C Jim Crompton (5, 2-5) and Millville's Tim Bowser, who didn't seemed pleased by my "hey hey hey goodbye" chant. I really do make friends everywhere. Millville ran the clock under 30 seconds when Mike Spadafora stole the ball after a timeout. At this point, Mike had won over just about every casual observer in the gym. He had 32, shooting 10-19, 4-7 from 3 and 8-8 from the line. You can't ask for much more than that. He looked like an MVP canidate. By this point, Millville was doubling him out top as the seconds ticked down. He swung the ball to his brother, Fr. Matt Spadafora (4, 2-5) in the corner. Matt drove baseline and everyone thought he was shooting. The zone collapsed down on him, and he made a beautiful pass to Jr. Greg Arrow (6 pts, 2-7, 0-3), who made a short jumper straight away in the lane at the buzzer to give Wood its first lead since the first quarter and the win. The fourth quarter was just awesome. Spadafora was incredible, but without Tim Dougherty (partially out for a long time with a partially ruptured spleen), someone needs to step up and be a second scorer. Most nights 6 isn't gonna be enough from that second guy. This team has not played a game at full strength all year and may not until late in the season, but if Mike plays like this they're gonna be tough to beat for most North teams.

DEC. 21
NON-LEAGUE
Wood 55, Haverford School 50 (OT)
   Probably the most fun basketball game I've been to in awhile, althought it probably wasn't supposed to be. We were in over the awe of the campus (Line of night goes to my friend Jack, a future Temple student, saying "this is alot nicer than Temple, are you sure this isn't the college?"). Wood seemed a bit uninterested most of the first half for whatever reason, maybe looking ahead to Carroll or just taking Haverford easy, I have no idea, and Haverford took advantage. The Fords, led by PG Cameron Youngblood   (21 points on 9-23 fgs, 1-7 3 point fg), had a 10 point lead after the first quarter and lead at half 27-24. Then Haverford started the third quarter strong, regaining a 10 point lead, 36-26. After a Wood timeout, they got it together. They started to press more which sparked a 17-5 run capped by two Pat Haggerty free throws which gave Wood its first lead of the night and the first points of the night for Haggerty. After a few baskets were traded and the score was tied, Haverford ran four corners. Fun times. They did this with about 4 minutes left and ran about a minute off the clock, then did it again towards the end to hold for the final shot, a missed three. The game went to overtime tied at 45. Suddenly clutch Pat Haggerty, getting playing time mostly because Sr. PG Mike Spadafora missed his second game because of the flu, sank a three pointer to open OT. Haggerty then proceded to do a great defensive job on Youngblood, shutting down a guy who kept Haverford in the game during Wood's run. After a Fords miss, more fun insued as Wood ran a slightly different version of four corners. I felt like I was watchin the 1985 Villanova title game. They ran the clock down to about 1:30 before they turned it over. Haverford, down four, clawed back in with a three by John Chermak (15 points, 6-9 from the field, 2-4 from three) with 21 seconds left. After two free throws by, you guessed it, Pat Haggerty, Wood held a three point spread. Youngblood took a three to tie but missed and Wood rebounded the ball with .6 seconds! left, and Fr. G Matt Spadafora (16 points, 6-11 shooting) made two free throws to ice it. Wood Sr. F Tim Dougherty led the Vikings with 18 (7-15, 3-4 from three) and Jr. F Greg Arrow had 11 (4-12, 1-4). Sr.C Jim Crompton didn't score, but had two highlight reel blocks. Haggerty stole the show at the end though, finishing with 8 points (1-4, 1-1), all down the stretch, and making 5-6 from the line. Wood F Brian Gallagher didn't play becuase of bronchitis. Haverford had a nice cheering section of about 15, and had a nice little back and forth with the 5 Wood fans who made the hour long trip on a Friday night. The five of us were standing elevated above the gym on the floor above, and whenever a Wood player shot a free throw the Haverford kids would bang things, and after he made it Wood fans would respond with whooosh. We seemed to be annoying the Haverford kids by the end though. We seem to have that effect on everyone. If you're wondering, Mike Spadafora playing Sunday is still unknown, which would be his matchup with Carroll's Kashif Payne. Us here at Wood don't care much for Carroll anyway for obvious reasons, and we will have a big crowd.

DEC. 18
NON-LEAGUE
Wood 53, Council Rock 44
   Game was supposed to start at 8. After a nice, unplanned drive around Newtown, I get at Rock about 5 minutes of the supposed game time. It's halftime. A JV player told me JV started about 45 minutes early, leading to early varsity start. Whatever. Franchise PG Mike Spadafora didn't play for Wood because of illness, and Rock led at halftime 33-32 despite Sr. F Tim Dougherty having 16 in the opening half for Wood. Tim then got three quick fouls after the half and got out of his game a little. Rock's offense began and finished with Sr. PG Ben Luber, who had 21. The rest of the team seemed tentative to shoot, and their next highest scorer only had 6. It was back and forth most of the third, with Wood leading 43-41 going into the fourth, when Wood's defense stepped it up. Actually there wasnt much scoring in the fourth at all. Tim Dougherty went 6-6 from the line in the final minutes to give him 22 for the game, as Wood went 7-8 at the line in the final minute to win to win, 53-44. Jr. Greg Arrow added 10 for Wood, and Sr. Brian Duross had what was probably his best all-around varsity performance ever, scoring 9. Also, Jr. Kevin Oliver chipped in a big 7 points off the bench. Hopefully this was turning the corner after 3 tough losses that Wood was into until the end (by 3, 9, and 2). It was important for the team to prove to themselves and everyone else they could win without Spadafora, who should be back soon, and I would guess it would take something serious for him to miss Carroll on Sunday at home. Still hoping to see Amauro there.

DEC. 11
NON-LEAGUE
Kennedy-Kenrick 55, Wood 46
   This wasn't very pretty, although it was pretty entertaining most of the way.

The JV finish was good too.  Wood shot 15-53 from the field and Kenrick shot
19-51. It was close throughout, with K-K holding a 22-19 halftime lead and a 
37-35 advantage through three, but Wood coudnt get anything going offensively
in the fourth. Kenrick's lead was in the 7-10 range most of the late fourth,
and they made their free throws down the stretch to hold on. I had no way of
knowing the K-K players, so all I can give you is numbers. Their PG, Ryan Rich,
led them with 17 (6-14 fg, 2-7 from 3). Quincy Goggins also contributed with

11 (4-10 from the field). He also blocked some shots. Wood's franchise, as
Amauro would say, PG Mike Spadafora scored 14, but continued early shooting
troubles (3-11 fg and 2-6 from three). F Tim Dougherty also dropped 14, all in
the second half on 6-11 from the field (2-4 from three). Franchise The Younger,
aka Matt Spadafora, had 9 on 4-11 shooting. After that, I had the other 6 players

for 9 on 2-20. The football players got some playing time and seemed rusty,
understandably. This team should be a North contender by the time the season
starts, but this wasn't their best performance. K-K had a nice home
crowd, much more than I expected judging by football.