Huck's Corner, Basketball 2010-11

FEB. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFF
QUARTERFINAL
Carroll 72, SJ Prep 67
Anyone who knows me realizes that I love to provide as many details and stats that I can when filing these reports, especially when the game is top notch. And yes, tonight’s game played at Carroll between the host Pats and Hawks was indeed very good. And yes, I will undoubtedly provide as many numbers and details as one can. But none of that will give justice to the performance put forth by Carroll’s sr. CG Juan’ya Green. WOW!!! The Niagara recruit was off-the-charts in this baby, tying a PCL playoff record for points in a game with 39. Roman’s Kyle Locke also notched this amount in the ’92 final versus Dougherty. Amazingly, Green missed his only attempt in the first quarter, but did tally four points on perfect marksmanship from the line. He missed his first shot of the second quarter, but misfortune wouldn’t last too much longer as he followed this with five straight makes (One three) and entered halftime with 16 points. Carroll led at the intermission, 31-29. Ok, from here I’ll try to combine Green’s heroics with some play-by-play. The Pats seized some control at the beginning of the second half. A 14-to-5 run, propelled them to a 45-34 advantage. And from here the theme was pretty much the same, as in that the Hawks make runs, but Green follows each of them with heart-piercing daggers. Early in the final quarter SJP’s super soph. 6’3” PG Stephen Vasturia canned a trey to make the score 52-44 Carroll, but Green immediately answers with his own triple, then finds jr. WG Alec Stavetski for a layup to swell the lead to thirteen, 57-44. Then, midway through the fourth quarter Carroll held a 58-47 lead. A three-pointer by soph 6’3” WG Miles Overton makes the score 58-50. This is immediately followed by a Carroll turnover and leads to yet another three by Vasturia to make it a five-point game in ultra-quick fashion. Then, with the Hawks trapping the Patriots turn it over again along their baseline. Once again Vasturia gets a pretty clean look from the top-of-the-key, but the ball rattles out. Sr. WG Jay Donovan secures the rebound and quickly finds Green, who races three-quarters of the court, makes the driving shot, while drawing a foul. He completes the old fashioned three-point to push the lead back to eight (61-53) with 4:00 left. This was Green’s third and-one conversion of the game. Next, he capped Carroll’s following possession with a pair of freebies to stretch the lead back into double-digits. Despite Green’s onslaught the Hawks kept fighting and were able to draw to 67-61 with 1:19 left. A steal by Vasturia gave them an opportunity to make it a one-possession game, but Overton misfired on a three-pointer. Again, Donovan corralled the rebound and launched a pass down court to sr. 6’5” F Tracy Peal who followed his own miss on a fast break to pretty much seal the victory. Ok, back to Green, but checkout this stat. From the second quarter on Carroll made 20 baskets. Eighteen of them involved Green, as he scored twelve of them and assisted on six others. His final totals looked like this: 12-for-17 FG’s, 2-of-4 3’s, 13-of-15 FT’s, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Very interesting that St. Joe’s Head Coach Phil Martelli was in the stands looking on. I have to wonder what he might have been thinking. Now, I don’t know anything about the ins and outs of Green’s recruitment, but I have to believe this kid can play in the Atlantic-10. Did St. Joe’s, Temple, and La Salle drop the ball? I guess time will tell. I know some may question is overall quickness/athleticism, but the kid can play and does a lot of things well on the basketball court. No, maybe he doesn’t finish above the rim. Or have top level quickness. But he is faster than people think with the ball, knows when to go, and is very savvy in his approach. Hey, he even did a good job on the other end forcing the Hawks’s sharpshooter jr. 6’3” F Gene Williams into a 3-for-13 (8 points, 5 rebounds) outing. With Green as the catalyst the rest of the Pats did enough to ensure the victory. Peal finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds. He did his best to clog the lane area. Donovan hit a pair of threes for his 8 points and grabbed 5 boards. Soph. CG Yosef Yacob added 9 points. Stavetski hustled for 6 boards. Carroll’s team approach off the window helped them hold a 29-to-18 advantage in that area. The Pats shot 23-40 (57.5%) from the field and were 20-of-23 (87.0%) from the line. The fourth quarter alone they went 6-for-7 from the field and 9-of-11 from the line. And they needed to be this efficient for the Hawks bombed for 8 threes in the final stanza. In fact, SJ Prep’s last nine made baskets of the game were three-pointers. The duo of Vasturia/Overton combined for 53 points in the game. They scored 33 of their team’s 38 second half points. Safe to say they’ll be experiencing some good times over the next two years. Vasturia (27 points) finished 9-for-15 from the field (4-of-9 on 3’s). He also added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Overton went 9-for-17 from the field with a 6-for-10 showing from distance. He also managed 5 assists. The Hawks finished 12-for-29 (41.4%) from the arc, but were just 4-of-15 before the final quarter. They only turned the ball over four times. The game didn’t start until 8:30, as Carroll’s girls’ team played Neumann-Goretti beforehand. Very good crowd on hand, too. Carroll will now take on La Salle in one semifinal, while Roman will tangle with Neumann-Goretti in the other. The doubleheader is slated for next Wednesday at the Palestra with the first game (AC-LS) beginning at 7 o’clock. Should be two quality games!

FEB. 16

CATHOLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFF

Bonner 56, West Catholic 54

Well, let me see if I remember how this report thing goes. Hey, it’s been 67 days in-between these babies. Yep, December 11th was my last football report. And I’m almost positive that I have never gone this long between corners (Excluding the down summer months) on the wonderful TS.com since my first one way back in September of 2000. That one? About West Catholic's 32-13 victory over North Catholic in football. The late, former Burr speedster, Abdul Sesay, torched the Falcons for 262 yards and three scores in that one. OK, let’s move to the present, as in playoff action at the Burrdome between the #8 and #9 seeds in the one-division Catholic League. I’m pretty sure this is the first time a West gym has ever hosted a playoff game. I checked Ted’s site at past results and couldn’t find one. Granted, in most years playoff games in the Catholic League have been played at college/neutral sites. But still, for a school that has been around since 1920, you’d think maybe one would have snuck in there. And this one didn’t almost happen either. Everyone is familiar with the cozy confines of the Burrdome, so league officials left it up to the West administration to decide if they could accommodate a playoff crowd. The standing rule has always been a minimum of a 1,000. West holds around 800. Well, according to one of those capacity signs it does. In the end, the Burr brass decided to give it a go at 45th & Chestnut, and I’m pretty sure they made the right decision. There was a decent crowd on hand, but people weren’t squeezed against one another. If this game would have been moved to a neutral site, say Carroll, then I think the overall attendance number would have been much lower. Another good thing that happened is that all in attendance witnessed a competitive game that went down to the wire. No, it wasn’t the most glorious basketball ever played, but it as FAR from rough on the eyes. The Burrs played a sparkling first quarter that saw them jump out 9-2 in the early going. They eventually led, 17-10, at the end of one, and did so with a solid 8-for-12 showing from the field. Bonner would regroup some in the second quarter and only trailed, 26-23, at the break. As the second half started, the Friars scored two quick buckets to take their first lead since 2-0 at the game’s outset. They pretty much held the lead for the rest of the half, but could never really create some distance from the pesky Burrs. I didn’t jot down any end-of-the-game notes, so I’m trying to recall this stuff on the fly here, so bear with me. But I’m pretty sure sr. G/F Julian Lee scored on a drive to make it 55-54 with 31 seconds left. With the Burrs in a frantic state, sr. CG Christen Gibbs made a steal near the left of the foul line with 31 seconds left. In corralling the ball he stumbled somewhat and had to gather himself at first, so this prevented a quick foray to the basket. After pulling out the ball the Burrs couldn’t get a quality look and Head Coach Guy Moore summoned for a timeout with 16 ticks left. Afterwards, jr. CG Jaleel Reed penetrated down the center of the lane, but had the ball knocked away. Bonner’s jr. PG Billy Cassidy, probably the smallest player on the floor at the time, wrestled with a Burr for the ball, which resulted in a held ball. Possession back to Bonner! Cassidy took the inbound pass and was hacked with 5.8 seconds left. He canned the first, but the second bounced out to jr. G/F Tristin Freeman. Freeman’s outlet pass was a little soft and Bonner nearly stole it, but Reed eventually stormed up court. Near the top of the key (may or may not have been a trey) he went up, but was almost immediately engulfed by sr. 6’5” F Scott Slade. I don’t think the ball even got out of Reed’s hands and it was without-a-doubt a clean snuff. Ballgame! It was kind of disappointing not to see the Burs get a shot off, but hey, this stuff happens. Bonner’s most clutch player in the game was Cassidy, who posted 15 of his 18 points in the second half. Known for his mad-bombing skills he did have one trey in the second quarter. A couple of other attempts spilled out and it appeared that maybe this wouldn’t be his night. Not to be! In the second half he hit three consecutive triples (4-for-8 on 3’s for game) at one point, and each was huge. Furthermore, none was of the chintzy variety either, as all came from a good distance away from the arc. Bonner scored its last 11 points from the line and Cassidy was instrumental here, too. He went 6-for-8 in this sequence. Also, he posted no other stats in the opening half, but was able to notch an assist, grab three rebounds, and pilfer three in the second half. All three steals came in the fourth quarter. All were needed. Sr. G Anthony Jackson, who typically serves as a hustle/little things player, was definitely more than that tonight. In thirteen league games he managed a modest 60 points, with a high of nine, but tonight exploded for 13 markers (4-for-7 FG’s). He scored five pivotal points in the final stanza, including a pair of huge freebies in the final minute. He also chipped in with 4 boards and 3 assists. Jr. 6’6” F Craig Slade (7 rebounds) notched 9 of his 13 points in the second half. He was a solid 7-for-10 from the line after the intermission. This kid has an active body and should bear watching into next season. His older bro’ S. Slade paced the Friars early, as he scored 8 of his 10 points in the opening half. He also has an active body and finished with a game-high 10 rebounds. Leading scorer jr. 6’4” F Josh Hoho never got in the flow, was the victim of some early fouls, and went scoreless. I don’t think he enjoys playing against the Burrs too much, as he only mustered two points in the RS meeting against them. He is not as tall as the Slades, but possesses the same wiry, active frame as they do. Bonner more than likely won this game at the line, as it shot 13 more FT’s (19-29, 65.5%) than West did. Meanwhile, the Burrs could only convert on 7-for-16 (43.8%). West did place three players in double figures. Jr. G Mark Perez led with 14 points (5-for-11 FG’s, 3-of-4 FT’s). Lee was next with 12 points (6-of-12 FG’s). Also, Gibbs chipped in with 10 points (2 treys) and three apiece of assists and steals. Reed had 5 assists. Freeman (4 rebounds) came off the bench to score 9 points (2-for-4 on 3’s). Subs sr. 6’4” F Yuri Burton and jr. 6’3” F T-J Waters evenly split ten boards to lead West. There was a very un-Burrdone-like stat in the first half. The teams only combined to commit 5 turnovers. This swelled some in the second half and ended at 22 total (13-to-9 in favor of MB). With the win the Friars get to travel to South Philly and tangle with the Saints of Neumann-Goretti, who finished the PCL RS unbeaten. West’s season is not over either. They’ll have the next two months off (smile!) before playing in the City 2A final. Their most likely opponent will be Imhotep Charter, who is only arguably the best team in the state, regardless of class. After that they will play at least one more game in the 2A state playoffs. West is (2-0) in that round over the last two years. Guess what? This report thing is pretty cool. Heck, maybe, I’ll pop out a couple more during playoff time. For the record, I just needed a little down time after a loooonnngggg football season. My wife and I are expecting a baby at the end of April. So this big thing, combined with some busy times at work, I just couldn’t commit to being my passionate self. I’m not one to go at something in cruise control, so I either wanted to do a report in every game I saw, or none of them. Teddy S. nudged me a little on this one and how can you deny the master, right? Ha ha. As always, it’s been fun!