Fillin'
the Bill
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Bill Smith,
a student at St. Joseph's Prep, has joined the fold to cover basketball. He insists Bill
Smith is his real name. He played in our Fan Tourney last spring. He didn't quite fill it
up (smile). You may reach him at WJS10184@aol.com. |
FEB. 12
Food For Thought
Well since the playoffs are fast approaching, I thought instead of
doing the same game reports as a couple different people I'd give a little preview of what
I see right now. Even though no one has clinched yet it seems like 4 teams have a pretty
good hold on the CL South spots with "the Empire" still having a decent shot at
the final spot. I'll start out with Bonner first though
Bonner -- Very tough team coming off of a couple good victories. Kearney obviously
is the leader for this team and with him shooting the lights out this is a very difficult
team to beat. Bennett and McCleary give this team two more scorers and I feel they can
beat each and every team in the CL on any given night but that can be said of any team
making the playoffs in this very tight but competitive league this year. At 9-2 right now
they are in a first place tie and look to bring home a CL title. But with 3 remaining
games they have to play a hungry and desperate Roman Squad, the always dangerous Carroll
and the team they are in the first place tie with right now SJ Prep. So even though Bonner
is sitting in first now they could just as easily finish 4th in this very tight CL South.
I don't see a good team like this losing 3 in a row especially to end what has been such a
great season so far but hey as you've seen already anything is possible in Catholic League
Basketball. I see this team finishing 2nd in a matchup against Carroll in the first round
of the playoffs though.
SJ Prep -- Now I'm now trying to be biased or anything here but at 9-2 in
league play and 19-3 overall this team can't be considered "pretenders" anymore
like they have been labeled all season. Led by big man Mark "Tree" Zoller this
team has to be taken seriously now. The young backcourt has held up very well this season
as Clark and Griffin are starting to look to score more as the season progresses. Senior
leader Jim Good holds the team together and finally will get his first chance at the
playoffs and I don't think he will let this team take a step backwards. After seeing Prep
beat a strong but tired Neumann team on Sunday I am going to say that this team wins the
regular season in the CL South and has to be considered as a serious threat to the
throne this year. Speedy has taken this team from rags to riches and they are dangerous
every time they take the floor. Don't give Speedy all the credit though this team has come
together and is finally playing to its potential. Live by the 3 and die by the 3 is the
way they play but with Tree in the middle they will stay consistent and solid. Look for
them to take on Neumann in what should be a great first round match up.
Carroll -- In my opinion Carroll has to be the most dangerous team to play
right now. With third year league star Kashif Payne running the show they will be in every
game. At 8-3 they still have a very strong chance of winning the South as well. With Payne
playing as well as he has been and big man Jordan Ingram in the middle the Patriots will
cause problems for every team it plays to end the season and in the playoffs. The unsung
hero on this team in my opinion though has to be Ned Dougherty. The kid plays great D and
shoots the 3 like nobody else on that team. Everyone knows about Shif and Jordan but I
think Dougherty holds the team together with his ability to shoot the ball and give them
another scorer from the outside. With 3 tough games left Carroll will have to show what
its ready to do in the playoffs and after this tough stretch I think everyone will see who
they are. The most dangerous team in the league will take on Bonner in my opinion in the
first round and that will be a battle to say the least.
Neumann -- Now everyone is automatically counting out the defending champs
but they are still a very difficult team to play year in and out. Tabby is the big name on
that team but Adon El and Lauer give them a pretty good inside presence as well. Without
Todd Johnson in the lineup though they are a different team. He's a huge part of their
success and they need his size for any kind of playoff run in my opinion. Tabby and
Antwain Wynn has to be considered the quickest back court in the league and when you have
that you'll be in every game. The player for Neumann though after seeing them play on
Sunday has to be Chris Del Brocco. Now I don't know if he ever attempts to move inside the
three point arc but the way he snipes it from the outside I don't blame him. With 3 non
playoff teams left on their schedule Neumann should walk away with 10 wins this year and
Arrigale will undoubtedly have them ready for a playoff run no matter who they face in the
first round.
JAN. 21
CATHOLIC SOUTH
SJ Prep 52, Roman 50
This
was one of the craziest endings to a game I've ever seen. Not to downplay the rest of the
game but the last minute really made it what it was. Soph PG Chris Clark started out hot
hitting a couple early jumpers to give Prep an early lead. Clark ended up going cold late
in the game but his early performance definitely gave the Prep the upper hand. Soph
sensation Charron Fisher kept Roman in the game early with some nice inside moves but he
seemed to be rattled a little bit by the taller and much longer C for the Prep Mark
Zoller. It was a back and forth battle all game. One note to make was the continuing good
play of Sr F Jon Duperon. He battled all night and ended up with 16 big points to keep
Roman in the game all night. QB turned WG Andre Sloan-El had a tough shooting night but
had a couple nice slashing moves to the basket. Roman looks to be set for the future with
this young team but will definitely challenge this year anyway. The story of the game
though had to be Zoller's 24 points and 15 rebounds against the "horse" of the
league in Charron Fisher. Zoller always finds the open space and rebounds well on both
ends of the floor. He looks to be getting better everytime I see him. Other than Clark's
13 points he really didn't have much help on the offensive end. Starting SF Sr Jim Good
was hurting all game with the stress fracture in his foot and Sr Ryan Lynch never got into
a good enough rhythm to be effective. So going into the 4th quarter it was a back and
forth game with the Prep holding a couple until the end. Finally, in the last minute, Prep
fell behind by 1 with 11 seconds left on the clock after a big basket by Roman which could
have been a 3 point play if not for a missed foul shot. The play was set up for Clark who
launched a 3 that was not even close. A war ensued for the rebound and the ball ended up a
couple feet in front of half court. Prep Jr WG T.J. Valerio ended up with it. He pump
faked as Roman defenders came swarming out at him. He the! n heaved up a prayer and was
bumped pretty hard. The shot was way off and finally a whistle blew. I personally think
T.J. got the shot off with a little less than a second left but they put 2.1 seconds back
on the clock and sent Valerio to the line. This kid doesn't miss from the line. He sank
all three like he was at the playground and nothing was happening. Roman Fr Bobby Jordan
got a last second shot off after a Roman timeout but it was well off. This game had a
great crowd and a great ending. Only about 5 Prep guys could get in because of the sellout
but I have to give credit to the Roman fans led by Byrd of course because they made it
loud the whole game. Prep moves on to 4-2 and has a big showdown at Bonner on Friday while
Roman at 3-3 moves on to a big match up at Carroll.