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.