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The KingDom
Basketball 2007

   Dominic "Smocis" Mallon is a sophomore at Father Judge and   having grown up around high school sports has given him keen insights. Dominic's brother, Frank, who played football for Judge and Ursinus, has been a gigantic influence. Dominic hopes to become a journalist after college.
   Please contact him via e-mail/AIM at dizzypots71@aol.com.  


JAN. 29
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Ryan 35, Judge 31
   If you are a student or alum from either Father Judge or Archbishop Ryan such as myself, then the classic rivalry that exists between the 2 institutions is as big as, if not bigger than, the BoSox/Yankees feud. Whenever these two teams go at it, it’s always a classic match up, and tonight’s game was no different.
   Midway into the first quarter, the Crusaderss objective became obvious: keep speedy Ryan guard Andrew Rogers under control. And although they kept him to only 4 points in the entire first half, it seemed impossible to keep him out of his element. Rogers’ favorite outlet during the 1st seemed to be Chris Wilk, who managed to control the tone of the game in the first with 5 points and great defense that kept the Crusaders to 10 points.
   In the 2nd quarter, Bob Zanneo was the savior for Judge, plunking down the team’s only 7 points in the quarter. The tone of the game started to slow down around this time as each team tried to set up their offense. Unfortunately, neither team was able to capitalize on opportunities to get off shots except for Zanneo. However, this is where it was evident that the Raiders were outplaying Judge with their ability to stay on the offensive for several minutes at a time as well as get second chance shots to keep the ball in their hands. Chris Wilk was able to snag 3 boards in the second half and was clearly the #1 problem for Coach Frank Cahill to deal with going into the locker room for halftime.
    What I really like to see about the way the Crusaders play basketball is the fact that there is no single player who stands out as the star. It’s the same way with their JV too. I watched the entirety of the JV game and saw that on any given night, any guy can be the star. In the 3rd, that star was Ryan Walker. Ryan dropped 5 points in the 3rd, leading for points by either team in that quarter. But close behind was Andrew Rogers who took advantage of Judge’s change in defense to contain Chris Wilk. Andrew had 4 points (which doesn’t seem like much but in a low scoring game like this it meant everything to the Ryan cheering section). With consecutive 3 pointers by Walker and Bob Verrelle, the Raiders started to get desperate. They tried to move the game along and get the Crusaders on the ropes by using a fast-paced offense, but when Judge tried the same tactic it turned into more of a brawl than a basketball game. Several blatant fouls went unnoticed by the officials, leading to only more sloppy basketball and uncalled fouls.
    Rogers, who is an extremely good ballhandler, was able to keep his composure while everyone else on the floor was falling over each other, and drained 5 points in the 4th. The last few minutes were probably the most fun I’ve had watching a basketball game in years. The Crusaders were trying to play catch up and were keeping the Raiders on their toes. With 30.5 seconds to go, Judge had the ball and was down by 2. They inbounded it from their own baseline and spent the next 20 seconds trying to get a man open for a clear shot. But with 8 seconds left and nobody open, the ball got thrown away on a sloppy pass that was picked up by Ryan, sealing their win.
    KingDom King of the Game: Chris Wilk and Andrew Rogers.

JAN. 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Dougherty 81, N. Catholic 74
    Hey guys! If you had nothing to do Wednesday night and felt like making the trip down to Cardinal Dougherty, then you were in for a surprise treat. I’ve always felt that one of the elements that make a good high school game great is the intensity of the crowd (in a good way.) Attendance wasn’t as packed as I would have liked to see for such a high impact game, but by the second half the Cardinal faithful and the few North students who made the trip were going back and forth with chants. And the fact that the game only ended with a single digit point difference at the end of regulation only heightened the interest of the match up.
   The game didn’t start out that way, though. The Cardinals came out strong being led in points by senior guard Kahlil Mumford. Just under 3 minutes into the first quarter, Dougherty had the Falcons on the ropes, forcing them to call a time out to regroup. That was the story for the rest of the 1st. North tried to play catch-up, but the speedy Mumford just kept draining shots, pushing them back down. But don’t count out the Falcons too quickly. Although they never really had the lead, they were never staring at a huge deficit either. Much of the thanks should probably go to senior Chris Edwards. Every time North dropped a basket, it seemed like it was his name going through the speakers. He ended the game with a team high 19 points. Between Chris and Lenny Young, who finished right behind with 17 points, this game stayed interesting until the very end.
   But I think the most fun that I get out of watching the Cardinals perform is watching Rob Townsend and Justin Minter. I’d bet money that if Townsend got off a good enough jump, he could be able to tap the top of the backboard. He ended the game with a team high 20 points. He also snagged 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Between him and Mumford (9 boards), the Falcons had little to no chance getting any second chance shots. But really, what Rob Townsend performance is complete without an eye-popping dunk? Fortunately, I was lucky enough to witness one on this night that made the crowd go insane. But even that doesn’t impress me as much as solid, old school defensive performances. And Justin Minter is just the guy to go crazy for if you’re a college scout looking for that type of player. Not that he isn’t a great offensive player (he had 18 points), but personally I think when you stop a guy like Andrew Pomager and keep him out of his game for the night, you need to give credit where credit is due. I truly think that Justin might be the most complete player on the entire squad, and wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up at a very good basketball school next year. Dougherty ended the game on top, winning 81-74. Although it’s probably not a safe bet to call Dougherty the favorite to win the Catholic League title, so far the 1st  place (and as of now undefeated in the Northern Division) Cardinals look like they have the best shot to bring the title back to the Northern Division.
   KingDom King of the Game: Justin Minter.