 |
Jack in
the Box Jack
Crouse is a La Salle High football player with an
interest in writing. He will again file reports about the Explorers and has again promised
to have fun (and he proved himself last winter). The Explorers' student rooters have been
known to come up with clever remarks, so if Jack pays attention, this could be quite
entertaining (smile). Again riding shotgun with Jack is Mike "Stat Boy"
Grant. |
THE
BEST OF JACKNOTES
FROM 2003-04 and 2004-05
No one really
cares about what happens in the game. All
they care about is what I have to say about ‘em.
It’s true. Most of my readers say that “Jacknotes” are the
best part, so I’m giving the readers what they want.
Here’s a compilation of the best Jacknotes since I started in 2003. Enjoy.
-Immediately after the game La
Salle’s Jr. PF and buddy of mine Joe Sobocinski came over to take a look at
the stats that Mike had kept and wanted to see how many boards he had. Seeing that
he only had three, he said, “Only three? Aww man…Yo, can you hook me up and say
that I had five?” Then Coach Jackson yelled at him.
DEC. 17,
2003: La Salle 58, Chestnut Hill Academy 27
-Thanks once again to my buddy
Jr. Mike Grant who helped out with the stats even though he had to deal
with Jr. Dave Kuch constantly ragging him, “Yo mon! What you
drawing, mon?”
JAN. 5, 2004: Archbishop Ryan 50, La Salle
48
-In the second quarter the La
Salle crowd jeered Hudgeons while he attempted free throws.
After Kevin made his first, a smiling overweight Ryan cheerleader yelled
something at us to quiet down. Eric Calvitti politely responded, “Hey fat
girl! Sit down!”
JAN. 9,
2004: La Salle 59, Archbishop Wood 47
-Jr. Mike Grant took
control of the stat keeping in the fourth quarter while I ate an ice cream sandwich.
While holding the clipboard, he managed to entangle the metal part in some girl’s
hair. Smoothe, buddy. Poor girl just wants to see a basketball game and she winds up
with a clipboard stuck in her head.
JAN. 16,
2004: La Salle 48, North Catholic 45
-La Salle JV Jrs. Tom Edger and Ryan Gibbons have their own non-profit
organization. It’s called “Edger
Fills Up the Cups, Gibbons Hands Them Out Inc.”
JAN. 30,
2004: La Salle 66, Ryan 57
-Stat
boy Mike Grant attempted to get on-camera interviews of people before the game for
a religion project. He got a few from La
Salle fans, but decided he needed some female interviews.
With camera in hand, he went up to a group of girls in the La Salle
stands and asked them to help out, but they declined, making him feel like an idiot.
FEB. 13,
2004: La Salle 54, North Catholic 33
-The
remarks of Adam “Chip” Douglas were greatly appreciated throughout. Before the game he yelled to some North fans,
“Hey Red team you’re gonna get blown-out,...Who we playing? Oh…Hey North
you’re gonna get blown-out!” Sr. Mike
Glaccum tried to help limit Chip’s miscues, “Look, when you wanna yell
something, tell me first and I’ll tell you if you can say it.” On one occasion, Douglas didn’t listen and
made a fool of himself. Glaccum scolded him,
“I told you not to say that!” Douglas replied, “Yeah, you said I could!” Glaccum: “I said nix it, you idiot!”
-Sr.’s Tom “Tito” O’Donnell and Matt Malloy randomly
hollered quotes from this week’s Chappelle show incessantly. I’d look over and Malloy would yell, “What’d
the five fingers say to the face!?” O’Donnell
would answer, “Slap! I’m Rick James!”
FEB. 23,
2004: La Salle 45, Ryan 43
-On Thursday morning during
spirit week at La Salle, Shattuck stole Sr. SF Kevin
Moll’s right shoe in the early part of the day.
Moll was forced to walk around school and go to class for the first 4
periods with only one shoe on. He commented
to me in the hallway, “I don’t trust anyone anymore, Crouse.”
FEB. 27,
2004: Dougherty 66, Wood 63 (2OT)
-On one occasion, when me and the
guys around me cheered after a Wood basket (only because they were the underdog and were
playing so hard), a woman from Dougherty at the end of the row began to holler at us. Therefore, we made a point to be especially loud
whenever Wood did something good. On the next
Dougherty score, she ran down the row screaming and began grinding on my boy Mike Grant. Dougherty
folk are crazy.
DEC. 1,
2004: Episcopal 54, La Salle 34
-For once my efforts actually had
an impact on the game. At half-time the
score read 25-8. As Mike aka “E-Dohc” aka “Stat Boy”
Grant and I looked over the stats, we noticed that we only had 24 points. Upon checking with the kids keeping the book, we
found that they had made the mistake not us. So
the score was changed from 25 to 24.
DEC. 16,
2004 West Catholic 47, La Salle 34
-The
Burrs only shot 11/24 from the line. This is
thanks to Jon “The
Rat” Clifford among others who
busted out “EEE!!!” during West’s foul shots.
DEC. 31, 2004 St. Joe’s Prep 69, La
Salle 28
-Part
of the reason that this report is so late is because I was having trouble reading my notes
with all the little hearts Courtney
Hogan
drew all over the pages. The other part was
because I’m lazy.
-Santa Claus must have realized
that the that the baby blue…rag…that Prep Coach Speedy Morris wears is a tad…no,
obnoxiously out of style. He happily sported
a brand new red sweater for this game.
-In
the first quarter LS Soph Sean
Benz
was double-teamed in the corner, right in front of the student section, without his
dribble. He was trapped and desperately
looking, without success, for someone to pass to. Being
in the first row, and having the basketball smarts of the best of them, I stood up from my
seat and started yelling timeout. The kid was
only a few feet away from me, heard me and called timeout.
I was so proud of myself.
JAN. 14, 2005: North Catholic 45, La
Salle 40
-Good look by La Salle Sr. Mike Pennington by initiating the “Hardy…Hardy”
chanted toward one of North’s outspoken fans. It
was a bold move by Pennington because he was not guaranteed the support of the crowd and
could have looked like an idiot. Everyone got
behind him and joined in the infamous La Salle chant.
JAN. 21,
2005: Conwell-Egan 58, La Salle 47
-My
way of entertaining the crowd was challenging an Egan cheerleader to a cartwheel contest
along the baseline during a timeout. She did
about 5 impressive ones and I held it down by completing 3 before losing my balance and
crashing into the padded wall behind the basket and falling on my face. I still got an ovation from the student section
and some parents, so that was cool I guess.
FEB. 4,
2005: La Salle 45, McDevitt 44
-There were a bunch of foolish girls across the way that
made up the McDevitt student section. The
whole 7 of them tried to chant against La Salle’s student section and made themselves
look silly. Most notably when they chanted
“Overrated.” Even the “Chant
Cop” athletic director T. Resch, had to crack a smile. Ladies, you don’t chant overrated to a team
that’s 2-8 in the league. We fired back
at them with a “Cook our dinner” chant.
FEB. 8,
2005: Judge 44, La Salle 29
-Judge
junior Bill Hunt was up at the game. He
went up to “The Abyss” midway through the game.
I hope he didn’t feel like we expelled him from sitting behind
the La Salle bench.
MARCH
8
Jack’s
Catholic League North All-Hustle Team 2004-2005
This is my tribute to the role player. All throughout the season, I always offered a
hustle play of the game. This was never a
spin move, monstrous dunk, bounce it off some guy’s dome and then through his legs,
and such. It was usually a simple play where
a kid dug in and said yeah I’m gonna save this ball from going out of bounds,
I’m gonna dive for that loose ball, I’m gonna let this fat kid run me over and
take a charge. Just a little extra effort and determination set these guys apart from the
rest. None of the guys you will see on this
list were honored as an All-Catholic, none of them averaged double digits or were looked
upon to score, but each took whatever playing time they got (whether they were a starter,
came off the bench, or enjoyed the last 40 seconds when their team was up by 30 points)
and made the most of their allotted minutes and tried to do something positive for their
team. This team is also about sportsmanship. I
don’t need any whiners, bigheads, or attitudes on my All-Hustle Team. If you think you’re a hustler and you got
snubbed, maybe that is why. Making the
All-Catholic team is about scoring and making a name for yourself. Making Jack’s All-Hustle Team is about good
defense, strong rebounding, aggressive, blue collar, hard work, baby!
First Team:
Mike Piselli
Wood
John Little
Egan
Tom Lyons
La Salle
Keith Adams
Ryan
Chris McNicholas
Dougherty
Second Team:
Mark Kostic
Egan
Andrew Pomager
North Catholic
Tim McCauley
Judge
Sean Benz
La Salle
Tom Manes
Ryan
Third Team:
Jon Bruce
Ryan
Brian Carlin
La Salle
Andrew Crawford
McDevitt
Matt Smyth
Judge
Jimmy Krieger
Dougherty
Honorable Mentions:
Ryan Van Zelst, Egan; Danny Breen, North Catholic; Ryan
Gibbons, La Salle; Chris Schwartz, Judge; John Daley, North Catholic; Fran McGlinn, Wood;
Mike Chapman, La Salle; James Franklin, Judge; Kevin Miller, La Salle; Matt Burns, Egan;
Justin DiCristofaro, Judge; Mike Swoyer, McDevitt; Jim Schule, Judge
All-Catholic All-Hustlers (Guys that are good
and still hustle anyway)
Joe Sobocinski
La Salle
Corey Filer
Wood
Matt Spadafora
Wood
Hanif Edwards
North
Catholic
Dwight Lyons
Dougherty
FEB.
19
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Judge 45, La Salle 28
It’s a sad
day at Tedsilary.com. This will be my last
report for La Salle as a student reporter. If
you don’t have a box of tissues handy, you might wanna go grab some before you
continue reading. The seniors met their proud
(?) parents at halfcourt before the game for a picture.
Awww…but enough of that…now to the game! The first quarter was a typical Northern Division
La Salle/Judge match-up. It was almost as
exciting as playing right field in Little League with the score 8-6 at the end of the
first. There was so much action, I don’t
know where to begin. How about La
Salle’s Sr. Kevin
Miller
hitting a three at the buzzer to narrow the lead to 2?
Sr. SF Mike Chapman converted an AND-1
in the second quarter and Judge’s Damien Palantino hit two 3’s. La Salle played really well defensively in this
quarter, forcing several turnovers. The
Crusaders went into the locker room with just a 1 point lead, 18-17. La Salle Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski did his patented
jump stop and hook shot to give the Explorers their only lead of the game, 19-18. Judge went on a 13-3 run from there and dominated
the rest of the game. Bird Man Sobocinski finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds. Sr. G Tommy Lyons, played good
defense and grabbed 4 rebounds. Palantino
lead the scoring for Judge with 12. Sr. SF Arthur Livingston had 9 points and as
many rebounds. Sr. Big Man Mike Briscella ripped 6 boards
and scored 8.
Jacknotes:
-- I
was dressed for success for my last game as a student reporter. I donned a sport coat tie and gave myself a
combover. Dressed as a coach would, I paced
the sideline in front of the student section and argued the referees' calls. I did this for the JV game too and Judge Coaches Bill Fox and Rich Miller were definitely
eyeing me up and whispering about me from across court as they watched the JV’s.
-- Thank
you to my most loyal reader, Aunt Mary. Now that Joe isn’t playing anymore what are
you going to do with yourself on Sunday afternoons?
You got any other nephews I can write about?
-- Now for what most
of you have been waiting for… “The Jack in the Box All-Fan
Teamİ” This is my
recognition to the most loyal La Salle basketball supporters even as the team struggled.
First Team All-Fan:
Joe
Winning
Mike
Pennington (MVF)
Mike
(Stat Man) Grant
Chip
Douglas
Brian
Heenan
Second Team:
Kev
Trainer
Stew
Ryan
Tim
Marcinek
Tyler
Meves
Tom
O’Donnell
Third Team: Tom Little, Brad
Murtha, Mike Lynch, Tom Jorfi, Drew Wilkins, Jim McCabe, Vince Cartwright, Ryan Travers,
Mike Mills, Sean O’Connell, Greg Crone, Sean McGoldrick, Shane Kelly, Jerry Bidus,
Tom Edger, Eddie Valentino, Zach Hess, Jon “The Rat” Clifford, Andrew Rocks, Jim
Gehringer, Rob Szostak
Purposely Snubbed from
this list: Scott McBride, Bill
Hunt
Fab Five Female Fansİ:
Jen
G., Mary Cate C., Kelli C., Danielle S., Jamie P., (Sixth Woman: Madon M. <3)
Purposely Snubbed from
this list: Courtney H.,
Kendall, Aimee L.
“Jack’s
PATENTED Hustle Play of the Gameİ” In the first
quarter, Lyons dove on the ground for a loose ball that he knocked away from a Judge
player, he was surrounded by three players scrapping for the ball, but he still managed to
pass the ball to a teammate who ran the offense.
…I
know, you’re probably crying right now, but don’t worry I’ll definitely
check in in a week or so with Jack’s All-Hustle Teamİ, The Best of Jacknotesİ, and
maybe some playoff notes.
FEB.
15
PUBLIC LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL
Central 67, University City 48
Once again,
another Pub refreshment for my weekend woes. I’d
never been to Central before but I was pleased with the game and the atmosphere as the
Ogontz Ave. gym proved to be one of the nicest I’ve seen in the Pub. As for the game, the Jaguars had the momentum from
the start and led throughout most of the opening 8. Central’s Sr. G Scott Rodgers
nailed a trey at the buzzer to tie it up at 16. Central
went on a scoring rampage in the second quarter and it took another buzzer beating three
from U. City’s Sr. SF Anthony Morrison to keep the Jags within 10 at halftime,
34-24. U. City went on an intense run to
start the final half and Central couldn’t hit anything for the first few minutes. Morrison scored 4 points in a row to cut
the Central lead to 1, 37-38, until my man Rodgers completed an AND-1 and then a jumper to
bolster the lead to 6. However, in the fourth
quarter with 5:08 left to go, Rodgers picked up his fourth foul and would have to come out
with U. City only down 9, 50-41. This would
be the perfect time for the Jags to swing the momentum, but they hadn’t anticipated
Sr. Andre Woodlin stepping his game up. In
Rodgers' absence, he collected three steals and three rebounds in clutch situations. The game got out of hand towards the end and
Central began toying with the U. City players. I
didn’t really like that. Still, it was
fun to watch Woodlin go coast to coast for a badonkadunk.
Rodgers was Central’s leader throughout. He had 15 points at halftime. He was 9/9 from the foul line until he missed his
first free throw in the third quarter. Overall,
he finished with 26 points, and 6 rebounds. Woodlin
was his complement as he garnered 18 points , 8 rebounds, 5 steals. I like the play of Sr. G Lamar Williams. He didn’t rip up the scoreboard but he
grabbed 8 boards, dished 5 dimes, and 3 steals. For
U. City, Morrison was the headliner with 15 pts., and 4 rebounds. Jr. Aaron Stephens had 8 points,
5 rebs, and 4 thefts.
Jacknotes:
-The
Coach for University City is professional as anything.
He donned a classy suit and tie. Yet,
while game play was going on, he paced the sideline and coached…while eating a bag of
family-sized chips.
-Before
the game everyone was recognizing fellow site writer Nick and referred to him as
“Ted Jr.” I felt like…hey I
write for the site too!
Jack’s PATENTED
Hustle Play of the Game- The hustle
of Nick, who showed up just minutes before the tipoff.
FEB.
10
PUBLIC LEAGUE ROUND-OF-16 PLAYOFF
University City 65, Washington 60
This was a really
good game. It was just what the doctor
ordered for my eyes after watching La Salle play Judge on Tuesday night (shiver). Washington’s Sr. PG Corey White came out firing,
hitting 3 treys in the first quarter. Sr. PF Dominique Curry had 2 big time
blocks. U. City held its own too with Sr. SF Ervin Jordan ripping 7
rebounds…all this in the opening quarter, you Catholic Leaguers. G.W. had a 19-18 lead after 8 minutes, but
University City ripped it in the second quarter. Sr.
SF Anthony Morrison scored 11 points
before you could blink an eye after going 0/7 in the first.
U. City bested the Eagles 22-7 in the second and went into the locker room
with a 40-26 lead. Yet Washington
wasn’t done yet. They slowly but surely
used a full court zone press and climbed back into the game. The 200 and some fans at G.W. were lovin’
every minute of it. Curry managed to tie the
game, 51-51 with a three. Then Morrison hit a
jumper and put U.C. on top for good, but G.W. still hung tight til the very end. Morrison finished the game with 21 points and 6
rebounds. Jordan closed shop with 8 points
and 9 rebounds. Jr. G Aaron Stephens had 11 points, 5
dimes, and 4 thefts. For Washington, White
was a straight-up bomber hitting 7 treys en route to 27 pts. Sr. C Pat Martin had 10 points and as many
rebounds. Sr. Mike Roane and Jr. Dan Powell each did the dirty,
ripping 8 boards.
Jacknotes:
-The Washington
fans were really getting on this one balding ref. I
would too if I were them. He was borderline
partial and gave every call to U.C.
-Morrison
scored his 1,000th point in this one and ended the game with 1,001 career points. He was totally oblivious to this and when I
informed him, he said with a big smile, “Man they didn’t even stop the game for
that!?”
-“Jack’s
PATENTED Hustle Play of the Game”- In the second
quarter, Morrison nailed a three from the wing. Most
players would just jog down the court, but as soon as he hit the shot, he surged forward
and picked off the ensuing inbound pass and converted a lay up, scoring 5 points in less
than 2 seconds.
FEB.
8
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Judge 44, La Salle 29
It’s
burning hot up in here, Damien Palantino is on fie-ya. Judge’s Sr. SG hit 6 treys en route to 21
points. Palantino has to be one of the
streakiest players in the history of CL North. His
average point differential from one game to the next is 9.55. When he’s on, he’s on and when he’s
not he’s not. Tonight he was on. Unfortunately for the Explorers, the game is
called “basketball” and not “keep away”. The Explorers took a grand total of 2 shots (both
misses) in the first 6 minutes and 8 seconds of play.
They were behind 10-4 at the end of the first. They looked as if they wanted to get back into it
in the second by actually shooting the ball as Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski got fouled
going to the basket. He made the bucket and
the foul shot but then the Crusaders went on a 15-3 run that ended with Palantino
completing an AND-1 of his own with :06 left in the half.
Judge went to the locker room ahead 25-10.
In the blink of an eye, the Explorers cut the lead to 8, 25-17. That, however, was the last breath of hope for La
Salle as Judge went on a run of its own. How
can you not score 30 points…against Judge? Sobocinki
and Sr. C Brian Carlin both had 8 points for La Salle. Sobocinski also added 9 rebounds. Sr. Mike Briscella added 9 points and 7
rebounds for Judge.
Jacknotes:
-My
man Kev Donohoe was up in the stands to watch his brother “Dollar”
Bill Donohoe coach the JV team (Dollar Bill does an excellent job with the JV team
by the way.) Kev graduated last year from La
Salle and was an All-Catholic defensive lineman.
-La Salle is now mathematically eliminated from making the playoffs. Judge and North will have to fight for that fourth
seed.
-When a La Salle player missed a rebound that went by his head without him even noticing
where the ball was, one of La Salle’s animated assistant coaches jumped up and
screamed, “You gotta smell it!!!” while pointing to his nose.
-Judge
junior Bill Hunt was up at the game. He
went up to “The Abyss” midway through the game.
I hope he didn’t feel like we expelled him from sitting behind the La
Salle bench.
“Jack’s
PATENTED Hustle Play of the Game”- In the
fourth quarter, Sr. G’s Tom Lyons and Ryan Gibbons executed a nice
double team in the corner which led to a steal by another La Salle player.
FEB.
4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
La Salle 45, McDevitt 44
I do not
believe…what I just saw! Let’s
start from the beginning -- McDevitt's 2 fast break buckets apiece from seniors Andrew
Crawford and Richard Womack. Things
looked as if they’d go McDevitt’s way all game until La Salle got a spark of
life from Jr. WG Billy Warrander, who scored three off an AND-1, cutting the lead
from 13-6 to 13-9, making a big difference. The
score went back and forth throughout the second, but La Salle wound up on top at the
midway point 23-22, mostly thanks to Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski and his 6 second quarter
points. La Salle extended its lead to as much
as 5, 27-22 but then McDevitt crept back in the game.
Sr. PG (Unnamed to protect my mockery of him later) put McDevitt
ahead 33-31 off a three right in front of the La Salle student section. I feel that this play was arguably the turning
point of the game…for La Salle. More
on that in “Jacknotes”. The
third quarter ended with a 33-33 tie. McDevitt
pushed their lead up to 7, 40-33 to start the fourth but the Explorers would not give up. A three from Sr. G Kevin Miller gave them a
lift, as did some dirty work inside from “JS Young shorts” Sobocinski. Still La Salle found themselves down 44-42, with
just 10.2 seconds left and they called time-out. Here’s
where the real fun starts. From the side-out
inbound, they tried to get the ball to Sobocinski for an inside shot…didn’t
work. Sr. SF Ryan Gibbons found
himself trapped with the ball on the right wing and threw it to Miller at the top of the
key. Miller tried to drive but the whole lane
collapsed on him so he kicked it out to…Brian Carlin??? This 6’6’’ center has a solid
mid-range jump shooting game but from three land? The
student section crapped themselves as the shot went up…and then ran onto the court
with poop in their pants as Carlin nailed the three for the victory! Carlin was mauled by about a hundred fans (I was
the first to get to him) who stormed the court. Head
Coach Joe Dempsey gave high 5’s to all the students and thanked them for
coming, as Friday night was the first home victory of the season. I’d have to say that was the greatest moment
I’ve personally witnessed in that gym. Carlin finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Sobocinski ended the day with 14 points and 13
rebs (8 of those boards came in the second half, 5 in the fourth). Womack and Crawford are a scoring duo for McDevitt
and it’s surprising they don’t have more victories. Womack had 21 points and 5 steals while Crawford
had 12 points with 4 assists and 4 thefts.
Jacknotes:
--- As
I said, “Unnamed” making the three for McDevitt was the turning point of the
game for La Salle. I think all athletes can
take a lesson from this kid’s error. Let
me break it down. We had been jeering the kid
a little bit, but nothing out of the ordinary or excessive.
However when he popped that three and gave McDevitt the lead, he gave the
infamous “shush” gesture to the La Salle student section. Now that’s fine if you want to do that but,
you have to remember that there was a quarter and a half left to play in a very tight
game. The student section, led by Sr. Mike
Pennington, gave him the deadly “Hardy…hardy” chant, administered only
to the most blatant of hard as---. This chant was belted every time he touched the ball,
and it was deafening til the very end. Whenever
he passed it the chanting stopped dead and then picked up when he got the ball back. He didn’t score another point after he made
that three. Lesson learned: if you’re
the away team and you’re going to provoke the home crowd, make sure the game is
almost over or that you’re sure you’re going to win it.
--- There were
a bunch of foolish girls across the way that made up the McDevitt student section. The whole 7 of them tried to chant against La
Salle’s student section and made themselves look silly. Most notably when they chanted
“Overrated.” Even the “Chant
Cop” athletic director T. Resch, had to crack a smile. Ladies, you don’t chant overrated to a team
that’s 2-8 in the league. We fired back
at them with a “Cook our dinner” chant.
--- Tom O’Donnell and Tyler Mevis are off the wall with their comments. A “Go home, Tom” chant was started,
followed shortly thereafter by “Go home, Mevis.”
---
Congratulations to La Salle Wingbowl Champion Sean “Big Head” McGoldrick who
finally won after 2 years of losing in the final round.
He defeated the fan favorite Shane “Kiss My Wing” Kelly who
was still wearing his face paint at the game.
“Jack’s
PATENTED Hustle Play of the Game”- In the
third quarter, Miller knocked the ball away and then dove on it at around half court. He then passed the ball up to Jr. Tyrell
Marshall who completed the breakaway bucket.
JAN.
28
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
La Salle 48, Dougherty 44
What a
great way to end a great week for me: witnessing La Salle’s first Catholic League
victory. I was pretty tired and didn’t
feel like writing a report on this game. However,
when I saw the score was close in the second quarter, I asked La Salle’s trainer Dave Crowe for a pen and he gave me an empty
container of bandages to write on. However,
looking at my notes, I can’t really understand them anyway so I guess I’ll just
wing it. La Salle led throughout most of the
second half. Where were you Kevin Miller?
This Sr. wingman was so pumped for this game because it was his first
Catholic League game. He had suffered a knee
injury in preseason and was out for about a month. Kevin
“Muscles” Miller had a great game and wasn’t afraid to express his emotion. He did a lot of yelling and flexing after making
baskets. The team is given new energy with
this kid back in the line-up. He finished
with 11 points. Sr. C Brian Carlin had a good game as well as his jump
shooting continues to improve. He also
finished with 11. Jr. PG Tyrell Marshall did a nice job of handling the
rock and played good D. He kept his head
throughout, limited his turnovers, and was very poised.
After the game he said, “Damn, Jack, now you have something good to
write.” He finished with 8 points. Sr. leader Joe “Bird Man” Sobocinski was the main
focus of CD’s defense. This is what allowed the other players to score. Sobo only had 6 points but they were in clutch
situations and he snagged a bunch of rebounds. Most
importantly, he made his presence and leadership known on the floor without scoring. This is a message to the players and coaches: Guys, you work so hard. I’m happy that you finally got to experience a
win. Dougherty is one of the better teams in the league and you’s got the best of
them. They didn’t play great but if it
was them who lost the game, the score woulda been like La Salle 32, CD 29 or something. No, you guys put up 48 points. They didn’t lose, you guys won. With this win out of the way, I think you have
realized you CAN win games and this will lead to more victories.
Jacknotes:
-- I shook every coach’s
hand after the victory. I bet some of them
were like, "Who’s this kid?"
-- Thanks to Roman Sr. John Haughney, who gave
me a ride home. I was sitting with him and a
bunch of Dougherty girls. The girls were
asking him why Dougherty was losing and he said, “They’re not playing smart. They’re getting too many penalties.” You can tell big John is a football player. In b-ball, they’re called turnovers, my man. Oh, well, thanks again for the ride, big guy.
-Live the 4th fellas, live the freakin' 4th. Kairos 37-42.
Jack’s Patented Hustle Play of the Game- In the second quarter, La Salle Sr. Ryan Gibbons got tangled with another player and
they both fell to the floor. Gibbons managed
to secure the ball and while still on the floor, he managed to pass it to Marshall who
scored on a break away layup.
JAN.
21
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 58, La Salle 47
How
valuable is the basketball? I think La Salle
should ask themselves that because, if it is a thing of value, La Salle is very charitable
to the other team. I also think Denzel
Washington should ask the Explorers, “How many feet are in a mile?” La Salle just could not hold onto the rock, and
Egan scored tons of points on breakaways resulting from LS turnovers in the frontcourt and
tons more on quick buckets following La Salle’s errant inbound and outlet passes in
the backcourt. Every time La Salle tried
closing the gap, the Eagles widened it once more. Egan’s
lead ranged from 4-14 pts throughout the whole game. Egan Sr. Big man Mark Kostic
has good command of his inside moves. His
favorite is the pump fake, up and under. He
had 19 pts and 7 rebounds. Sr. PF John
Little isn’t as sharp as Kostic down low, but he earns his points the hard way;
banging around inside. He collected 11 points
and ripped 4 off the glass. Sr. Matt
Burns also earned 9 points. La
Salle’s leader was once again Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski. Along with having 14 points, he also dished 5
assists and grabbed 5 rebounds. Sr. C Brian
Carlin showed good jump shooting, garnering 10 points mostly in that fashion. Sr. wing man Ryan Gibbons hit 3 treys for
9 points. One of La Salle’s assistants
who is usually extremely animated –sometimes coaching prone on the floor or on all
fours- was visibly frustrated as he sat with his head in hands for the closing minutes. We all are beginning to identify with Head Coach Joe
Dempsey’s Conshie crony. La Salle games are becoming disheartening to watch as
passionate coaches and still optimistic players are always leaving the floor disappointed. One might think that players in this winless
situation would be on the "Edge" of quitting but they aren’t. They all deserve credit for continuing to play
hard each night. The continued losses have
had an effect on the fans too. It was a
Friday night game and there weren’t many on hand.
Since the crowd was not into it, I took it upon myself to try to enliven the
atmosphere. I explain in detail in Jacknotes.
Student support or no student support, La
Salle will travel to the NE Monday to see if they can capture a win before the end of the
first half of the season.
Jacknotes:
-- My
way of entertaining the crowd was challenging an Egan cheerleader to a cartwheel contest
along the baseline during a timeout. She did
about 5 impressive ones and I held it down by completing 3 before losing my balance and
crashing into the padded wall behind the basket and falling on my face. I still got an ovation from the student section
and some parents, so that was cool I guess.
-- The La
Salle student section belted the Eagles chant during the first quarter to show their
support for the Birds in NFC conference championship Sunday. The Egan cheerleaders responded with joyous
screams as they mistook our cheer to mean the Conwell-Egan “Eagles”. A La Salle student, who wishes to remain
anonymous, promptly and loudly corrected them from across the court, “We were talking
about the Eagles that have good looking cheerleaders!”
-- HALF-TIME
EXTRAVAGANZA!- Student Council President Stew Ryan, alone this week as the
first lady was busy (she told him she had to dry her hair…you know what that
means…actually I just made all that up), once again organized the half-time contest:
make a lay up, foul shot, and three ball in 30 seconds and win a prize. Mike Grant, my trusty statistician, put
down the clipboard and was the first contestant. He
shoots ballerina style, leaning forward and kicking up his back leg. I kept his stats for him… he was 1/3 on lay
ups and 0/4 on foul shots. Way to go!
Sr. Jon Clifford was next up at the request of the student section. I’m not sure if he ever played basketball
before and he looked lost out on the court. He
kept forgetting which line he had to stand behind for each shot. I was ready for him to
fire a jump shot into the stands. Fundamentally
sound QB Mike Lynch was last and put forth a solid effort and probably would have
won if had the chance to shoot one more three ball. No
winners on Friday.
-- “Jack’s
PATENTED Hustle Play of the Game”- In the
second quarter, an Egan player had secured a defensive rebound. Sobocinski stripped him of the ball and, as it
bounced off the ground, Sobo smacked it off the Egan player’s leg to regain La Salle
possession.
JAN. 14
CATHOLIC NORTH
North Catholic 45, La Salle 40
Anticipating the
half-time extravaganza organized by Student Council President Stew Ryan, the La Salle fans were psyched to begin
with. Throw in the exciting nature of
tonight’s game and the crowd was out-the-building hyped. In the middle of the first quarter North looked as
if it was starting to pull away with a 5-0 run until LS Sr. Wingman Ryan Gibbons gunned down a 3 to tie the game back
up, 7-7. In the second quarter, Explorer Freshman Mike
Topley got in the action with a three ball to cut the Falcon lead to two, 13-11. But a three by North’s PG Hanif Edwards and fundamental foul shooting from
Soph F Andrew Pomager pushed North ahead
20-13 at halftime. Now for the half-time
show: Sr. Brian Heenan pulled 3 names out of a
hat to compete in the challenge which required the participant to make a lay-up, a foul
shot, and a 3 pointer in 30 seconds. Scott McBride was first. He failed miserably and
was justifiably booed. Kev Trainer and Tom Little were successful but wagered their
initial prize for a “mystery prize” by attempting a half-court shot, which they
both missed. Many student council presidents
have talked about doing this in years past but Stew was the first to ever accomplish it. Nice job, Stew. Back to the game: La Salle was
down 20-13 coming out of the locker room, but they brought their game faces to the floor. Gibbons hit another 3, Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski had two tough inside buckets, and
Jr. G Tyrell Marshall and Sr. SF Mike Chapman both had steals that led to coast to
coast baskets. North sr. F Danny Breen hit a three but La Salle still won the
quarter 15-5, giving the Explorers a 28-25 advantage.
Chapman stepped up big in the fourth to hit back-to-back inside shots to
bolster the lead to 7 points. Yet, North then
went on an 8-0 run which included a Breen 3, an inside bucket from Sr. C Jeremy Coombs, and a three from Sr. Wingman John Adamski. La
Salle would regain the lead at 34-33 off Sobo’s foul shots, but an AND-1 from Pomager
and a bucket from Coombs would shut down the Explorer momentum. Chapman was definitely the clutch player of the
game for the Explorers. He had 5 assists
throughout and all his 8 points came in the last 10 minutes of the game. Sobocinski had 11 points and 8 boards, Gibbons had
10 points (2/4 on treys), and Sr. C Brian Carlin
had 9 boards. Topley, La Salle’s frosh
PG, shows toughness battling with the big boys but sometimes gets flustered when he makes
mistakes. He’s like the guy that
everyone pulls for to do well because he’s so small and young. The kid’s got skills though and will be a big
time player in the future. The most effective
player on North had to be their PG Edwards. He
had 7 points and his on-the-ball defense caused the Explorers havoc. He controlled the ball well on offense despite
the Explorer faithful calling him Gary Coleman
and Stew Ryan belting out, “Hey #11 go back to ‘Different Strokes!’” Pomager went 7/7 from the charity stripe; that
shows good concentration considering the La Salle crowd making fun of his name like the
coach in “Rookie of the Year”. Pomager
aka Poopbagger, Poppenstagger, Pulandswagger… had 11 total points and 5 boards. Breen also had 11 points. Adamski, usually the
Falcons’ bomber, was visibly frustrated because he was not getting the ball. He finished with only 3 points. Despite the loss the Explorers have good energy
and improved as a team in this game.
Jacknotes:
-I wonder how much Stew Ryan paid that girl to
pretend to be his girlfriend. Nah, just
playing… we all know Stew’s a true playa.
-Good look by La Salle Sr. Mike Pennington by initiating the
“Hardy…Hardy” chanted toward one of North’s outspoken fans. It was a bold move by Pennington because he was
not guaranteed the support of the crowd and could have looked like an idiot. Everyone got behind him and joined in the infamous
La Salle chant.
-Ursinus teammates Tim Smith (Cardinal
Dougherty) and Nick Shattuck (La Salle) were in
the house. Shattuck has a shaved head. Smith’s NE Philly flavor must be rubbing off
on him. Yet I told Smith he’s gotta do
something about Shattuck’s wardrobe. He
rocked a grey hoody and grey sweatpants both inside out.
Bri Hogan also stopped in.
“Jack’s PATENTED (check Jacknotes in the
Ryan/Judge report below for explanation) Hustle
Play of the Game”- An unnamed La Salle player was on a breakway for an open
lay-up. Hanif Edwards, who gives up about 7
inches to the unnamed La Salle player, hustled to catch up with him and managed to block
the shot.
JAN. 10
CATHOLIC NORTH
Ryan 43, Judge 37
Bombs away! That’s Judge’s motto. The Crusaders were chucking up threes like it
ain’t no thang, but their percentage was an icky 4/17.
Judge cruised to a 10-3 lead in the first quarter, thanks to the scoring effort of
Jr. PG James Franklin and Sr. SG Damien Palantino. However,
Ryan called timeout and went on an 8-1 run to end the quarter with the lead 11-10. The score went back and forth throughout the
second quarter, and the half ended on a controversial 3 pointer from Ryan Jr. Joe Zeglinski that was clearly fired up a full
second after the buzzer sounded but was still counted anyway. Well I’l “L B”e darned, maybe there
was some hometown reffing. Anyway, the
Raiders went into the locker room with a 24-20 advantage.
Judge took the lead, 28-26, in the third off an Arthur Livingston lay-in, but that was short-lived
as Ryan’s Jr. Mike Varanavage’s
completed an AND-1 with :04 left to put Ryan on top once again 32-30. Ryan expanded their lead somewhat in the
fourth, but then Palantino’s 3 and a jump shot put the Crusaders within 3, 36-33. Yet he seemed to get a little excited and fired up
an ill advised and hurried shot on the next possession, off which Zeglinski got a
breakaway and crushed the Judge momentum. Zeglinski
lead the Raiders well as he had 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists. That’s a complete game. The rest of the Ryan scoring was spread out, but
Jr. C Keith Hudgeons led the rebounding with 9
boards. Sr. G Keith Adams played well with limited minutes. He came up with multiple big steals on important
possessions in the third quarter. For Judge,
Franklin led the scoring with 13 points. He
played good D throughout and Judge probably could have won the game if he didn’t get
hurt in the third quarter. Palantino came in
second with 11 points and Jr. F Chris Schwartz
had 7 rebounds. Unlike last year, I was
pleased with this NE Philly match-up.
Jacknotes:
-Judge head Coach Bill Fox was battling the flu and loyal assistant Rich Miller assumed the head coaching duties for
the night.
-Collectively, Ryan and Judge
shot 4/20 on foul shots in the fourth quarter.
- My man Sean Adams, La Salle graduate and SJU freshman,
was in the building. “McAdams” is
always good for some commentary and to make fun of my stat man Mike Grant.
“Jack’s PATENTED (Ahem…Paul
Breen…aka “The Breen Scene”…new Ted.com reporter who also
happens to have a hustle play of the game. Make
sure you copyright “Jack in the Box: 2003” when you use that, but it’s nice
to see someone else show love to the hustlers.) Hustle
Play of the Game”- In the third
quarter, Judge Sr. Mike Briscella fired up a three from the top of the key. Most players just watch as they shoot a jumper
but Briscella rushed in immediately after shooting, grabbed his own rebound and banked it
in for two.
JAN. 7
CATHOLIC NORTH
Ryan 46, La Salle 32
Welcome to the
Catholic League North. I was nice to know
that La Salle isn’t the only team that has undying patience to shoot. Ryan won the tip and passed the ball around for
1:20 until they took a shot. If both teams
played at that rate, each team would only take 6 shots per half. That’s some La Salle High School math for
you. It didn’t matter, though, because
during these long intervals of delayed action I could just look at the Ryan cheerleaders. Anyway, La Salle played nice in the first quarter. The first Ryan FG didn’t come until there
were :44 seconds left. La Salle’s Brian Carlin played extremely well in the second
quarter. On back to back possessions he
dished the ball to Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski, who
converted cutting down the lane. Yet when
Sobocinski got a technical foul call, his 3rd personal foul, with 3:19 left in the half,
and the score 15-10, he would have to come out. The
Explorers ended the half still in the lead thanks to the hustle of Carlin who played good
D in Sobo’s absence and scored once in the lane.
The only thing going for Ryan was Jr. Jon
Bruce. He had 9 first half points. Despite Ryan having the biggest guy on the floor,
La Salle outboarded them 15-7 in the half. La
Salle started the third quarter with a 17-14 lead, yet Sobocinski would have to sit
because of the foul trouble. And just like
that…pop, pop! Freshman PG Andrew Rodgers and Jr. Mike Varanavage hit back to back threes. Ryan owned the third quarter, outscoring the
Explorers 17-1. In this barrage of points, Jr
C Keith Hudgeons was like, “Call me the
carpenter because I drop the hammer,” throwing down an obnoxious dunk. At that point the game was over. For La Salle, Sobocinski led the effort with 14
points. Carlin had 5 boards and 4 assists. Sr. Wingman Ryan
Gibbons had 7 points including a 3. La
Salle sorely misses Sr. G Kevin Miller, who
despite missing the last 4 games, still has the second highest point total on the team. He should be back in a week or two. For Ryan, Bruce led the scoring with 11. Rodgers hung in with the big boys despite only
being a frosh. He had 7 points and 3 dimes. Sr. Tom
Manes is a good hustle player. He had 5
boards and 4 steals.
Jacknotes:
-After the game I went to see
“White Noise”. It was terrible. Mike Grant
expressed his dismay, “I give it two thumbs down.
In fact, I wish I had more thumbs. Because
two thumbs down is not enough.”
-Mike Lynch says I need more notes than this.
-Kev Trainer doesn’t read my reports.
-“Jack’s Hustle Play of the Game”- La
Salle’s Tommy Lyons reached
up and grabbed a rebound between two players in the lane.
He passed the ball up the floor to a teammate, who fired up a quick jumper. He hustled down the floor to grab that miss as
well and kicked it back out to the point. He
did all this after suffering an injury to his arm earlier in the game. It was later found out that he had a broken wrist.
JAN.
3
CATHOLIC NORTH
Dougherty 54, La Salle 40
It looked
like we had a shot in this one. Sr. Joe
Sobocinski was making crazy noises and high-fiving the crowd before the game. That’s the kind of energy we need folks. I witnessed La Salle possess the lead for the
first time this year (at games I’ve attended).
La Salle was up 3-2 in the first quarter when Sr. Tommy “The
Sniper” Lyons hit a three from the corner. Keep
up the good work, guys. Despite some hard
drives to the hole from Dougherty’s Soph Justin Minter and some outside
strokage by Jr. Vincent Simpson, who according to Adam “Chip” Douglas,
has an uncanny resemblance to Steve Urkel, the Explorers' offensive energy was the
best I’ve seen. Players were going
strong to the basket and were not afraid to shoot. Most
importantly Sobo was taking most of the shots, and even though he didn’t have a good
percentage in the first half, it was good to see the ball in the right hands. Dougherty took a stronger lead in the second
quarter, especially when Josh Martin stole the ball with 4 seconds left and hit a
buzzer beating three. That made the score 25-12. The
crowd, particularly Srs. Joe Winning and Mike Pennington, was getting on the
case of Rob Townsend, who shot some smiles and winks to Winning’s
comments. Pennington asked him, during game
play, for a dunk and Townsend turned and nodded his head.
He drove the lane for the slama-lama-ding-dong but he got rim-blocked. Ouch! Dougherty
systematically expanded its lead throughout the second half. There were some good notes for the Explorers
though. Sobocinski’s Bird Man antics led
him to 20 points. The young gunna caught fire
in the final 16 minutes and was money in the paint. He
added 9 rebounds as well. There was also good
production from Sr. C Brian Carlin who added 8 points and 8 boards. Minter and Martin carried the load for CD. Each contributed 15 points. La Salle needs to find someone who can handle the
pill, as their main problems are errant passes, turnovers, and lack of fluidity on
offense. No true point guard has emerged yet. Friday night they will look to end their struggles
when they travel to Academy Rd. to visit the Ryan Raiders, while the Cardinals will try to
get two in a row when they host Conwell-Egan.
Jacknotes:
-Pennington
had a good look when he indicated that the one ref looked like James Brown from
Fox’s NFL Pre-game show.
-Bob
Szostak was once again in attendance, wearing the same shirt from last week’s
game.
“Jack’s Hustle Play
of the Game”- In the
third quarter Brian Carlin grabbed a rebound at the offensive end. The ball was knocked away from his hands, but he
dove on the floor to secure it and then kicked it back out to the point.
DEC.
31
NON-LEAGUE
St. Joe’s Prep 69, La Salle 28
This was a great
game…don’t let the score fool you. Try
and say that with a straight face. This game
is always packed and it’s a gathering of alumni who are home for the Christmas
holiday. Maybe the Explorers had too much egg
nog because their D was asleep at the start. Frosh Larry Loughery snuck behind the La
Salle zone for wide open lay ups to score the first four points of the game. No one even saw him or was in the vicinity. And then… well what else do you want me to
tell you? Prep won, OK? Turnovers were
devastating for La Salle as they had 31…which is more than they had points. I didn’t really think that was possible. What they need badly is someone to bring the ball
up because a significant amount of those turnovers occurred before the ball got past
halfcourt. With this not being a contest, I
was still hoping for some entertainment from Prep’s star junior Reggie Redding. However, that too was a disappointment as the kid
dropped a quiet 13 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. The
scoring effort for Prep was balanced as Corey O’Rourke had 10 pts and Joe Fox and Loughery had
9 apiece. Jr. Mike McCauley got in the action
for Prep and grabbed 5 rebounds late in the game. For
La Salle C Brian Carlin had the team high
with 7 points. Sr G Tommy Lyons popped 2 3’s.
Jacknotes:
-Part
of the reason that this report is so late is because I was having trouble reading my notes
with all the little hearts Courtney
Hogan
drew all over the pages. The other part was
because I’m lazy.
-With
the game not being fun to watch, at least me and Stat Boy Mike Grant could catch up on
some valuable conversation with La Salle graduate Rob Szostak. Robbie told us the facts of life including what to
expect in college, and the value of a dollar. He
also had a very cool t-shirt that identified him as a “pretty intelligent motivated
person”. Cool Rob!
-In
the first quarter LS Soph Sean
Benz
was double-teamed in the corner, right in front of the student section, without his
dribble. He was trapped and desperately
looking, without success, for someone to pass to. Being
in the first row, and having the basketball smarts of the best of them, I stood up from my
seat and started yelling timeout. The kid was
only a few feet away from me, heard me and called timeout.
I was so proud of myself.
-Santa Claus must have realized
that the that the baby blue…rag…that Prep Coach Speedy Morris wears is a
tad…no, obnoxiously out of style. He
happily sported a brand new red sweater for this game.
“Jack’s
Hustle Play of the Game”: In the fourth
quarter Prep Jr. Mike McCauley saw a ball going out of bounds along the baseline. He ran in from the wing and threw the rock off a
La Salle player’s foot as he fell out of bounds to retain possession.
DEC.
16
NON-LEAGUE
West Catholic 47, La Salle 34
After watching
this puker, I was tempted to go to La Salle trainer Dave Crowe’s office to pick up
some band-aids for my eyes. I mean this was
like watching Presentation’s 5 & 6 grade girls CYO JV B team scrimmage, and even
the pre-teen Lady Bulldogs of Old Soldiers Rd. and Woodland Ave. probably could have put
up more stats. But if you had some coffee or
Arizona Iced Tea with Ginseng Extract before the game and were able to pay attention, you
would have seen that in this battle of the Christian Brothers’ schools, West was able
to keep La Salle at an arm’s length throughout.
La Salle started the game off the right way by pounding the ball to muscle
man Sr. PF Joe Sobocinski who made a tough
move inside for a quick bucket. That’s
the way the Explorer offense needs to operate. However,
they got away from that and began passing the ball around the perimeter, looking for guys
across the court to run off picks instead of eying up the rack. It was very Father Judgelike. A few times right in
front of the student section, Explorers had their whole side isolated and the defenders
were giving up the baseline. Instead of even
glancing at the empty lane and open route to the basket, they were waiting to pass the
ball out to the top of the key. West
had a balanced scoring effort in the first two quarters and was able to squelch any run
that the Explorers thought they had. The kids
in the stands got even more indignant when West, ahead by nine points, held the ball
around half-court for the last 1:40 of the half and the Explorers just let the kid sit
there, playing right into West’s hands. If
you’re losing, you can’t let the other team just possess the ball like that and
let time tick away. All the kids around me
started screaming “Play D!!!...Go get the ball!!!” and belted out the LS
Football coach Joe
Colistra’s “Whataya
doin!?” At the start of the second half,
La Salle’s PG Kevin
Miller was
able to cut the lead to 4, 23-19 with a trey. However
a strong inside move by West’s big man Sr. Derrell Hand and a put back by
Sr. G Joe Askew bolstered the lead
to 8. Nothing else important really happened
in this game, save West’s Antonio Banks grabbing a steal on
a breakaway and throwing it to Askew for a dunk. West’s
squad looked solid and they are very well-balanced offensively. Askew led their scoring with 10 pts. Jr. Chris Mayo dropped 8 and 3
other Burrs earned 7 pts. each. Hand used his
hands to grab a team high 5 rebounds, (I guess that’s worth mentioning…I told ya
there were no stats in this game.) For La
Salle, Miller led the scoring with 13 pts. He
went 8/8 from the charity stripe, which shows good discipline. Sobocinski was a basket
short of a double-double. He had 8 points and
10 boards. The Explorers work hard and look
like they want to win, but they lack teamwork and chemistry. The offense is in total disarray and there is
still some selfishness with the amount of shots taken.
They need more production out of Sobocinski if they want to put up some real
numbers. He didn’t play his best game
today, shooting 4/13 but even so, his shot count should be in the high teens and low
twenties. The Explorers get a chance to work
things out this weekend away at Bonner.
Jacknotes:
-The
Burrs only shot 11/24 from the line. This is
thanks to Jon “The
Rat” Clifford among others who
busted out “EEE!!!” during West’s foul shots.
-Joe Winning did a nice job
announcing the game. He even announced the 3
on 3 pick-up game at half time that featured a few West kids vs. La Salle’s student
section’s best. When Winning wasn’t
on the mike, he did his part by hollering at the referees’ every call.
-I’m
still waiting for La Salle Sr. PG Tom Edger to score 15 points
to make up for the 15 points that I lost on an anatomy quiz because I used some of his
incorrect class notes to study for it.
“Jack’s
Hustle Play of the Game”- In the
fourth quarter, after a La Salle shot, one of West’s players was positioned
underneath the basket for a rebound. Sobocinski
flew in from about the foul line to secure the ball away from this player, take one
dribble to the other side of the net and complete a reverse lay up in a crowded lane. This showed pride because the game was almost out
of reach at that point.
DEC. 1
NON-LEAGUE
Episcopal 54, La Salle 34
Wayne Ellington is good. Just had to get that out of the way. Now that that’s taken care of, it’s good
to be back in “The Box” with the ol’ clipboard. There was a decent crowd on hand for La
Salle’s kick-off game against EA and we tried to make the best of a bad situation by
jeering Episcopal’s BIG man Greg Isdaner for
his loud sideburns… more on that later. EA scored off the tip as Junior Mike Yocum whipped the ball to Ellington as he
cut to the rack for a quick 2. That was the
highlight of the first quarter, actually the only light, because after the first 8
minutes, the score of this offensive explosion was 6-0 in favor of EA. As the La Salle fans were just about to siesta, EA
guard Dylan Brown threw a pass up toward the
net and Ellington just said, “I have an agenda and it goes like this!” and
completed the alley-oop badonkadunk. Sr. F Mike Chapman made the first points of the season
for La Salle on a corner jump shot. Jr. Swingman Billy
Warrander scored on an underhanded lay-up
in a crowded lane. Nice play, kid. Episcopal converted throughout the second quarter,
but a tight rim and turnovers kept La Salle from scoring.
Sr. Brian Heenan expressed his
dismay and called out, “Put in Gerf!” I agree that throwing in everyone’s favorite
curly haired assistant freshman football coach couldn’t have hurt as the Explorers
went into the half with a 24-8 deficit. LS PG
Tyrell Marshall made a shot and was fouled in
the third quarter and Sr. Kevin Miller hit 2
baskets but Ellington kept scoring along with fellow Jrs. Gerald Henderson and Yocum. In the fourth, La Salle fan favorite Joe Sobocinski gained a pair of baskets on
inside moves. Sobo should be the go to man
for the Explorers this year, but his play was limited because he is fresh off football
season and only participated in two practices so far.
C Brian Carlin hit a 3 in the
fourth quarter and everyone in the student section almost pooped themselves. In the words of Manager Lou Brown from the movie ‘Major League’,
“Nice play Bri, don’t ever do it again.”
Ellington closed shop with 19 points and 6 rebounds. The kid is nizasty.
Henderson dropped 14 and ripped 5 off the glass. He had a
dunk of his own in the fourth quarter Yocum’s
long arms grabbed a game high 10 boards and contributed 10 points as well. Brown moves the ball as a point guard; he had 5
assists. Soph G Pat Kelly will be a contributor in the future for
EA. He played tight D and had 6 points. Not much else can be said about the Explorers. Carlin was the leading scorer with 7 and a slew of
other guys put up 4 points a piece. Soph
Forward Sean Benz didn’t score but he was
a good spark off the bench and grabbed 5 rebounds. He
seems like a good player but looked like he had first game jitters, understandable for a
sophomore. La Salle takes on Abington Friends
Friday night. From what I hear they have two
guys who are 6’9’’. Good luck
with that one fellas.
Jacknotes:
-- There was some talk of the
goofy looking shoes Sobo was rocking. During
warm-ups Sr. Tom O’Donnell mocked him,
“I got my G-Unit sneakas!”
-- For once my efforts actually had an
impact on the game. At half-time the score
read 25-8. As Mike aka “E-Dohc” aka “Stat Boy”
Grant and I looked over the stats, we noticed that we only had 24 points. Upon checking with the kids keeping the book, we
found that they had made the mistake not us. So
the score was changed from 25 to 24.
-- Isdaner heard it from the La Salle
crowd the whole game about his abnormal size and sideburns.
Joe Winning hollered
“O’Doyle rules!” and “We want sideburns!” chants rang out. The crowd went bonkers when he finally got in the
game and scored in the fourth quarter. The
big fella was a good sport about it and laughed off our jokes.
-- This report was edited in part by
fundamentally sound quarterback Michael Jack Lynch who pointed out several grammatical
mistakes I had made when he came over to my computer during the library. So fundamental…
Jack’s Hustle Play of the Game
Stat Boy Grant found us in a tight squeeze behind a U-Haul van that was
dominating the road on the way to the game. The
seconds ‘til game time were ticking away and our “Doors” cd was on its last
track. Finally, as the street divided into
two lanes, Grant saw his opportunity. He hit the juice and his mom’s mini-van
darted in between an SUV and a smaller car. He
saw his chance and squeezed in front of the U-Haul enabling us to make it just in time for
tip-off.