St. John's Roars Back From First Loss With win Against DePaul

 

   St. John’s flipped the script from Sunday’s loss at Iowa state, which saw them start the game trailing 17-2, and roared out of the gate in their Big East opener against DePaul. They used a 12- 0 start to seize control of the game early and earn a decisive 86-67 win over the Blue Demons, raise their record to 9-1 overall and, for the moment at least, give them a share of 1^st place in the Big East Conference.

     “After our performance at Iowa State we wanted to pick it up a little bit”, said Joel Soriano who led the way with 17 points and 13 rebounds for his 8^th double double of the season. “We emphasized a lot of moving of the basketball and buckets in transition. When we move like that it’s beautiful basketball.”

     The “beautiful basketball” to which the Johnnies’ leader referred to produced an effort that was both well balanced and efficient. In addition to Soriano’s 17 points four other Johnnies, Andre Curbelo, Dylan Adde-Wusu, Posh Alexander and David Jones all hit for double figures. And they shot a combined 50.8% from the floor that included outscoring the Blue Demons 50-38 in the paint.

   DePaul closed the margin to six points with 9:06 left in the first half when Ahmad Bynum converted a pass from Da’Sean Nelson to make the score 24-18. St. John’s responded with a run of their own when Dylan Adde-Wusu and Rafael Pinzon worked a give-and go for a Pinzon layup and included a flurry of activity that saw Curbelo connect on helpers to both Soriano and Alexander for baskets. The Johnnies took a 40-29 margin into the locker room and bumped it to 45-29 when Alexander hit Montez Mathis for a deep triple in the opening moments of the second half.

   A 12-5 DePaul run that featured 5 points by Philmont Gebrewhit and a triple by K.T. Raimey trimmed the deficit to 50-41, David Jones and Da’Sean Nelson traded buckets before St. John’s reasserted control of the game. Despite a poor shooting game from beyond the arc, their ball movement passing and cutting helped them build a margin of 24 in the game’s closing moments. “I talked about taking the sense of urgency up many notches”, coach Mike Anderson said. “Defensively that was our most consistent effort…I think the game rewarded is with a win in conference play against a DePaul team that’s going to scratch and claw.”

Notes and Observations: New Jersey native freshman Zion Cruz led DePaul with 14 points while Earl Penn a graduate transfer forward from LIU-Brooklyn contributed 6 points and 7 boards.

Pinzon had his 3^rd straight strong game off the bench for St. John’s scoring 9 points while adding 4 rebounds and a pair of assists, one of which was a pretty drive and dime play to Soriano for a dunk.  When evaluating Pinzon’s progress, it’s worth noting that because of illness and injury last night marked his 20^th college game. Under more typical circumstances that would put him 2/3 of the way through his freshman season right about the time when good players begin to figure out what they can do at the “next level”.

 St. John’s next faces New Hampshire on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena at 6 pm.  Coach Bill Herrion’s squad will be coming off a win vs. ACC foe Boston College on Tuesday that featured a 34-point 14 rebound performance from junior forward Clarence Daniels as well as a 20-point 8 rebound effort from redshirt junior and former All Hallows (BX) standout Nick Johnson

Curbelo Takes MVP honors, Leads St. John's to Empire Classic Title in OT over Syracuse

 

   David Jones’ pull up jumper from the right side 2:11 left in the extra session gave St. John’s the lead for good at 69-67.  Syracuse’s Joe Girard, perhaps fatigued from being chased by a diligent Red Storm defense missed the front end of a one and one.  At that point Posh Alexander and Andre Curbelo, the two point guards that many worried might not be able to work together combined in a way that even the most optimistic Johnnies’ fan might not have imagined.

   Curbelo initiated the set play against the Syracuse zone. Posh set a screen for him at the right elbow. When Curbelo passed him the ball he quickly shifted a pass to Joel Soriano, who tried to power in a dunk and missed. For one of the few times in the game and at the rim a Syracuse defender was called for a foul. Soriano’s first free throw crawled over the rim and gave the Johnnies a 3-point lead. He calmly swished the next one, pushing the lead to 4 with 1:27 left. Curbelo then stole a Syracuse pass and then scored on a goaltending call. After ‘Cuse’s Jesse Edwards scored in the lane it was up to Curbelo to cap his MVP performance. Dribbling to the foul circle, probing a now extended zone defense. He found Jones again for a triple that affectively ended the ballgame, provided the final margin of victory (76-69) and gave St. John’s the Empire Classic Tournament Championship in a game that was held at new venue (Barclay’s Center) but had the feel of an old-fashioned Big East slug fest played at MSG or the Carrier Dome.

     St. John’s opened the game determined to make Joe Girard work for every point. They had, after all, watched him torch Richmond for 31 points in the Orange’s opening round win. While that strategy worked thanks to Posh Alexander, Montez Mathis and Dylan Adde-Wusu’s sharing the task, the Orange found scoring elsewhere, primarily in the person of freshman guard Judah Mintz who scored 16 of his team high 20 points in the opening half.

   Even when the Johnnies tried to get some traction in the first half, they seemingly sabotaged the effort. After Curbelo connected on a deep triple to cut what had been an 11-point deficit to 3 with six seconds left. Mintz took a quick pass from talented sophomore Benny Williams who converted a 3-point play to give the Orange a six point margin.

   Syracuse briefly bumped their margin back to 10 points when Girardi connected on a long 2-pointer on what may have been his only clean look of the game.  To their credit St. John’ kept coming. After Curbelo and Syracuse’s Chris Bell traded triples to make the score 50-40 with 15:08 left in the game the Johnnies went on 16-2 run. Jones gave them their first lead of the 2^nd-half when he followed in his own miss and completed a 3-point play with 9:28 left. A moment later Mathis connected on two free throws to complete the run and give the Red Storm a 56-52 lead. The Johnnies led by 65-61 after a bucket by Curbelo 2:39 left in regulation. After that senior center Jesse Williams scored four straight points on two free throws and a post-up. With the game tied at 65 the Johnnies forced a tough shot from Symir Torrence to force the extra 5 minutes. Both teams turned the ball over on their first possession of OT and that set the stage for the Johnnies. Jones and Curbelo provided the offensive spark while Adde-Wusu, whom coach Anderson subbed in for Mathis because he “wanted someone with fresh legs” to guard Girardi provided the defensive effort. “I like gritty”, Anderson said when asked to asses his team’s potential after the game. He got plenty of that from Adde-Wusu and the rest of his charges and they earned a terrific in season tournament win against an old but still hated rival.

 

Notes And Observations: Curbelo finished his MVP effort with a career high 23 points on 9-13 shooting that included a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. Jones and Soriano each had double doubles.  Jones had 19 points and 13 rebounds while Soriano added 18 and a career high 14 rebounds. Posh Alexander’s modest numbers (7 points and 4 boards in 44 minutes) should not diminish in anyone’s eyes how well he’s playing. He did a terrific defensive job on Mintz in the 2^nd half but continued to set up easy baskets for his teammates (5 assists). He demonstrates the ability to see plays develop no matter where he’s positioned in the offense. That ability will help the process of two dynamic and ball dominant point guards learning to play well together. Last but not least an observation about starters playing heavy minutes.  Curbelo played 40, Jones all 45, and Posh 44. I think that was done primarily because of the importance of the games with respect to rankings and a possible at-large tournament bid. I suspect the staff will go back to trying to develop the bench in these next few games. If they can succeed even a little bit the Johnnies may have some more options when they need them most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curbelo's Late Buckets Lift St. John's Past Temple For Empire Classic Showdown vs. Syracuse

 

        Andre Curbelo worked through a game that saw him shoot 4-14 from the floor and commit 6 turnovers. Fortunately for him, and for St. John’s, he saved his best work for when it mattered most.

     The former LuHi star and Illinois transfer converted two tough right-handed drives while moving down the left side to give St. John’s the lead for good in what would ultimately be a 78-72 win over Temple in the first round of the Empire Classic at Barclay’s Center last night.  The first of those drives came after the Owls’ Zach Hicks connected on a trey to give his team a 72-70 lead. Curbelo was fouled as he banked in the layup and made the free throw to give St. John’s a 1-point margin. On Temple’s next possession, his partner in the backcourt Posh Alexander forced Damian Dunn, the Owls leading scorer, to dribble the ball off his foot. Curbelo then made a similar right-handed drive down the left side, a little closer this time perhaps, but with the same result save for the foul, gently banked in off the glass.

  Prior to Curbelo’s heroics, Hicks’ basket that had briefly given Temple the lead came following a turnover where St. John’s tried to force an inbounds pass along the sideline to Alexander. It’s worth noting because the ups and downs of the game’s final sequence were indicative of the entire game for St. John’s

   The Johnnies began the game shooting terribly (4-25 at one point and 0-8 from 3-point distance in the first half) and Temple took advantage with the help of one of the Big 5’s best shooters Khalif Pratt who scored 13 of his 17 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Owls lead by as many as 13 in the first half but St. John’s countered using terrific pressure defense and inside scoring.  A 20-5 half closing run gave them a 32-30 margin at the break.

   Temple started quickly in the second half with a 10-3 run before St. John’s responded with a run that included 6 points from David Jones as well as key baskets from Alexander and O’mar Stanley, who was a perfect 4-4 from the floor and provided great energy and toughness on defense.

   The game see-sawed back and forth with both teams making clutch plays until the stage was set for Curbelo’s clutch baskets. Montez Mathis who, as his coach Mike Anderson suggested “looked like a mature senior” lead the Johnnies with 18 points. Joel Soriano finished with 15 points and 12 boards all while engaging in a terrific battle down low with Temple’s Jamille Reynolds who finished with a game high 21 points. Reynolds’ individual point total may have been higher but that should take nothing away from Soriano’s effort. In a fast-paced game and despite foul problems, he provided a tough and strong presence in the lane. With the Johnnies’ win and Syracuse’s 74-71 overtime win over Richmond the stage is set for a clash between two old Big East rivals.  It’s perhaps fitting that they will be playing for a championship in Brooklyn, where two of their greatest players, Chris Mullin for St. John’s and Pearl Washington for Syracuse, honed legendary games. 

 

 

                                                                                                                

St. John's Posts Convincing Opening Night Win, With one Big Red Flag

 

St. John’s new arrivals from the transfer portal helped propel them to a convincing 97-72 win over Northeast Conference rival Merrimack in their season opener at Carnesecca Arena last night. Juniors Andre Curbelo (Illinois) and David Jones (Depaul) led a balanced attack that featured five double digit scorers.

    Curbelo finished with 13 points and 7 assists as he started alongside returning point man Posh Alexander. The two of them together worked out as many had envisioned. Posh added 14 points and 5 assists of his own while contributing 6 steals. Jones scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and helped St. John’s maintain the margin they built early despite the one huge red flag that came with the win, 29 turnovers.

   Merrimack came into the game sporting a brief yet impressive division one history. They arrived from one of the best D-2 leagues in the country, the Northeast 10, and adjusted quickly, winning the Northeast Conference’s regular season title in 2019-’20. Given what passes for wisdom at the NCAA these days despite their quick success coach Joe Gallo’s Warriors could not compete for a post-season tournament title and the NCAA bid that went with it because they’re still thought by the powers that be to be in the “transition phase” to Division one athletics. Make no mistake, they are thriving, favored to be regular season league champs again featuring pre-season conference player of the year Jordan Minor.

     Gallo’s teams feature a sticky 2-3 match-up zone and while St. John’s built their early lead moving the ball well against it once they built that lead they got careless.

   The Johnnies used a 23-5 run to take a 32-14 lead with just over 9 minutes to go in the first half. Jones and Soriano provided the scoring punch while Curbelo and Posh pushed the tempo. The Johnnies took a 51-30 lead into the locker room, and saw that lead extended when Jones connected on three treys early in the second half.

            Merrimack was finally able to make St. John’s pay a bit for the turnovers as they closed the gap to 15 points with 8:34 left in the game. After that St. John’s regained their footing and following a steal and bucket by Posh the Johnnies had their largest margin of 87-58 with 5:02 left in the game

Notes Observations And OMG 29 Turnovers: First and foremost, congratulations to Montez Mathis who scored his 1,000^th career point with 6:15 remaining in the game. While most of those were scored during his time at Rutgers, he has carved out an important niche at St. John’s as a defender and scorer on the court and a leader in the locker room congratulations.

Before we get to the bad stuff here’s some of what was good: Five double figure scorers is always good and in addition to Posh, Curbelo and Jones, Mathis and Soriano each hit double figures. Soriano had a double double with 12 and 11 caroms. The Johnnies limited the Warriors to 20.7% shooting from deep and won the battle of the boards 47-26. St. John’s will need to keep having statistical advantages in those areas (especially 3-pt% defense) as the level of competition improves and especially once conference play begins)

Here we go 29 turnovers: As I mentioned earlier Merrimack coach Joe Gallo plays what appears to be a 2-3 match up zone defense. It’s hard to follow in part because it’s hard to know when and where they’ll match up other than ALWAYS it seems defending guards out front. That said. It would be nice to tell you that part of St. John’s turnover problem stemmed from seeing an unusual scheme for the first time. It would be nice but it wouldn’t be true. As coach Mike Anderson noted “We got a lead and we got sloppy with the basketball. We got quick and we got in a hurry”. Then he added quickly, “that will be addressed”. With one in the books, and a game Saturday vs. Lafayette one thing is certainly lots of work to do.

Coburn Scores 20 as St. John's Sweeps Xavier

 

    With last night’s 81-66 over Xavier at Carnesecca Arena last night, St, John’s snapped a two-game losing streak. They welcomed back junior center Joel Soriano, who contributed 10 points and 5 boards after missing the two losses with a left knee injury. And they completed a season sweep of the Muskies.

    All of that might well be considered secondary because Tareq Coburn, the graduate transfer from Hofstra who has fashioned one of the best stories in a disappointing season for St. John’s added one more great night to what has been an exemplary career as a student athlete. He led 5 double-figure scorers for St. John’s with 20 points, made 5 of his 7 field goal tries from beyond the arc and tied a career high with 3 blocks. While it was a signature game for him it’s only a small part of a great legacy.

    He is, after all, a player with deep New York City basketball roots. He prepped at Cardozo High in Queens where he developed in to one of the PSAL’s best 3-point marksmen. After freshman struggles at St. Bonaventure, he transferred closer to home, landing at Hofstra University where he blossomed both on the court and in the classroom.

   On the court he helped the Pride to a regular season CAA title in 2019 and a CAA tournament title in 2020. The beginning of the pandemic that year cost Coburn and his teammates a chance to compete in the NCAA tournament.

      Off the court he was twice named the CAA’s scholar athlete of the year and an academic All-American. His good work in the classroom earned him admission to St. John’s prestigious physician’s assistant master’s degree program. He was approached by Red Storm assistant coach Van Macon about playing for the Johnnies after he had been on campus already enrolled in the program.

    “It says something that he wanted to be part of this”, coach Mike Anderson said of Coburn’s decision to play a final season of basketball while matriculating in an exceptionally demanding graduate program. “It’s amazing I’m in awe of him”, coach Anderson added.   Julian Champagnie who finished with 19 points of his own added “It’s something about senior night I wanted him to have a big game”

   He led a well-balanced and winning effort for St. John’s. They held Xavier to a season low 32% from the floor.  And the return of Soriano helped anchor a defense that had given up 99 points to DePaul on Sunday.  At 16-13 overall and 8-10 in conference play St. John’s concludes the regular season at Marquette knowing they will enter the Big East tournament as the 7^th seed.  The high hopes of the early season have been replaced by disappointment. For Coburn, this season and his career as a student athlete has been a richly deserved success. And all of us who have watched his career as we follow New York basketball no that his basketball career will mark the beginning of a great life’s work.

 

     

St. John's Suffers Crucial Loss to Creighton 81-78

 

    Poor execution down the stretch and uncharacteristically poor shooting games from forwards Julian Champagnie and Aaron Wheeler cost St. John’s dearly as they squandered another chance at an elusive quad one win, losing for just the second time at Carnesecca Arena 81-78 to Creighton last night.

     The Johnnies had rallied from a 75-71 deficit, scoring five straight points when reserve center Esahia Nyiwe connected on a 3-pointer off a steal and pass from Dylan Adde-Wusu and a moment later Montez Mathis hit a 2-pointer off another steal and pass, this one from Posh Alexander. They took the lead 76-75 with 3:16 left to play.

  After that, St. John’s faltered and Creighton took full advantage. Mathis missed a free throw following the hoop and harm and St. John’s lead 76-75. Creighton’s Arthur Kamula connected on a jumper and Creighton retook the lead. Following a Mathis miss Creighton’s Ryan Hawkins followed in a Ryan Kalkbrenner miss to give the Blue Jays a three-point margin. Adde-Wusu would convert an offensive rebound for the Johnnies’ last two points but following a pair of Kalkbrenner free throws that gave Creighton their final margin Adde-Wusu made an errant pass to Aaron Wheeler with 5 seconds left. After that St. John’s still had a final chance. Following a missed one-and-one front end by Alex O’Connell, Wheeler took the rebound, pushed it quickly and got a good look at a game tying triple. The ball bounced off the board and rim, and Creighton had a well-earned road win.

   The Blue Jays got that win thanks to a dominant effort by their front court stars Hawkins and Kalkbrenner. They combined for 44 points on 18-31 shooting as well as 14 rebounds. Kalkbrenner’s 7’1” presence at the rim anchored Creighton’s defense and had much to do with the shooting struggles of Champagnie and Wheeler. They combined to shoot just 4-26 from the floor. While the two Ryan’s were terrific Creighton’s MVP for the game was freshman guard Trey Alexander, who stepped in at point guard after Ryan Nembhard, the likely Big East Rookie of the Year suffered a broken wrist in a collision with Posh Alexander with 12:55 left in the game. Trey’s good work at point guard included game totals of 18 points. 6 assists and 4 turnovers. Most significantly he helped orchestrate a 2^nd half effort that saw Creighton commit just 7 turnovers, after committing 10 in the opening stanza.

   St. John’s nearly overcame all of that to earn a badly needed win. They rallied from a 10-point deficit in the games early moments to take a 46-39 lead at halftime. With Champagnie and Wheeler struggling, and in the absence of improving center Joel Soriano, the Johnnies got 13 points from Mathis and great bench production from Nyiwe and freshman O’mar Stanley. Nyiwe started for Soriano who missed the game with a left knee contusion and contributed 7 points 5 boards and 2 blocks. Stanley who got extra minutes at both forward and center, matched his season high with 14 points and 3 boards.

  With 3 regular season games left St. John’s chances at an at-large NCAA bid suffered a critical blow. While games against Xavier and at Marquette offer chances to gain ground, Sunday’s game at DePaul is one the Johnnies must win just to keep from losing it. St. John’s only remaining path to the big dance may well be a conference tournament win, a herculean task that given the strength of the league will be nearly impossible to accomplish.

 

   

Lions And Clippers Earn 1st Round Diocesan Wins

 

  Bishop Loughlin and Xaverian earned 1^st round wins last night in the Brooklyn-Queens Diocesan tournament at Molloy. Here are my recaps of both games. The numbers next to the teams represent their seeding in this particular tournament. With my travel to games, like everyone else, restricted by COVID, these games, and I hope more in these playoffs, provided a chance to see some talented teams and players in the always competitive CHSAA playoffs. It was also great to see college coaches such as Binghamton’s Lavell Sanders and Fordham assistant Ronald Ramon out looking at high school players after a spring and summer that saw the transfer portal limit scholarship opportunities for high school players. The hope here is that as things slowly return to normal, that will start to change. The Lions and Clippers move on to the Diocesan semi finals on Wednesday at St. Francis Prep.

(3) Bishop Loughlin 88 (6) Holy Cross 83 The Lions held off Holy Cross in a game that saw them lead by double digits several times only to have the Knights rally behind clutch three-point shooting and good execution. The Lions featured a trio of 20+point scorers including senior Jaream Eason who paced them with 28 points. A pair of talented sophomores 6’3” Jakai Sanders and 6’6” Daye Kabba each scored 20 as well. The Lions took a 41-33 lead into halftime as Holy Cross stayed close with the help of senior guard Anthony Russo and junior guard Tyler Castro who helped make the 3-point line an equalizer for the Knights. They combined with senior Devin Grant, who provided finishing ability around the basket to cut the deficit to 4 points before Sanders and senior guard Christion Joe, whose floor game and leadership were outstanding from start to finish, put the finishing touches on a well earned win with free throws. Two more Loughlin youngsters who put up modest numbers yesterday but bear watching for the future are 6’7” junior post player Makhaya Moore and 6’2” sophomore guard Christian Jeffrey, who each provided terrific energy and athleticism. Russo finished with 23 points for Holy Cross while Grant added 20. The Lions move on to face second seeded Christ the King in Wednesday’s Diocesan semi-finals.

(4) Xaverian 69 (5) Molloy 52 The Clippers used a strong 3^rd quarter to push a modest 25-21 halftime advantage to a 50-35 lead as the 4^th quarter began. Michael Walker, a 6’7” junior forward who was saddled with 3 first half fouls came out strong for the Clippers and did a terrific job finishing around the rim playing off of guards Nasir Muhammad and Aaron Goldstein who each worked pick and roll plays with him in the middle of the floor.  Sophomore Nico Pena scored 10 points all in the second half and, while he struggled to find his normally reliable 3-point shooting moved without the ball very well and finished well at the rim. Senior John McCabe, who led Molloy with strong outside shooting and scoring on basket cuts, briefly gave the Stanners a lead when he scored consecutive baskets to open the third period. Xaverian then went on their decisive run behind Walker, Muhammad, Pena and Goldstein. Muhammad and Pena then closed the game with outstanding free throw shooting for the Clippers. Junior forward Emmanuel Ikioda also had a strong game providing inside scoring for the Stanners. The Clippers move on to face top seeded St. Francis Prep in Wednesday’s Diocesan semi-finals

 

 

Alexander and St. John's Win Convincingly Over Georgetown

 

Posh Alexander lead a balanced offensive attack and his team’s best effort defensively and St. John’s earned a much needed 88-69 over Georgetown at Madison Square Garden yesterday.

    While a convincing win over the Hoyas, who came into the game sporting just a 6-7 record and an 0-2 mark in conference play, does not provide kind of tournament resume building win they need it just might help them regain some confidence after a tough overtime loss at Connecticut. There were some good signs mostly provided by Alexander from the point guard position.

    As he has all season Julian Champagne led St. John’s with 25 points but, largely thanks to Alexander and his past and current teammate Dylan Adde-Wusu the team’s offense was balanced and efficient. Champagne was one of 4 double figure scorers. Posh and Dylan each had 17 points and 7 assists, while Posh added 6 steals. Forward Montez Mathis added 11 and Aaron Wheeler added 10 off the bench. His foul against the bigger and stronger Adama Sanogo on Tuesday at the end of regulation helped short circuit what would have been a great comeback and road win for the Johnnies, but he’s been a much-improved player since conference play began. That includes a 13-point 7 rebound performance against the Huskies

   After Ryan Motombo completed a hoop and harm 3-point play to tie the game at 15 St. John’s went on an 11-0 run that began when Aaron Wheeler connected on a trey off a pass from Adde-Wusu. Adde-Wusu then connected on a triple of his own assisted by Alexander. Champagne then connected on a short jumper assisted by Joel Soriano and then converted a pass from Adde Wusu for a three-point play because while Champagne’s dunk was blocked the ball got a piece of the rim and found its way to into the basket.

 The Red Storm led 43-32 at the half.  A jumper by Aminu Muhammad briefly trimmed the deficit to 9 as the second half began. The Hoyas would trim the deficit to 9 once more when Muhammad converted a pair of free throws but St. John’s, lead by Alexander and Adde Wusu pushed the tempo and pressured the Hoyas into 21 turnovers while committing just 10 themselves. St. John’s took a 20-point lead with 13:02 left in the game when Alexander set up Adde Wusu for a triple. St. John’s maintained a strong margin from then on thanks to the defensive effort Alexander had helped them establish.

“Everyone feeds off him,” coach Mike Anderson said of Alexander. “He was everywhere…it was a perfect game for him, He’s very talented and we’re blessed to have him on our team,” Anderson said. Indeed they are.

Notes And Observations Kaiden Rice led Georgetown with 19 points while Muhammad added 13 points and 12 boards.

 St. John’s improved to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play. They will look for their first road win of the season Wednesday at Creighton.

 

Xaverian Bounces Back With Road Win Over CK

    Xaverian used terrific outside shooting and a strong defensive effort to bounce back from a tough Tuesday loss to Iona Prep and earn a tough road win over Christ the King 53-40 last night.

   The Clippers outscored the home team 16-6 in what would prove to be a decisive 3^rd period. Leading 23-21 as it began, they connected on 3 shots from 3-point range; one each from Don Colon-Lewis, Aaron Goldstein and Supreme Niles. Goldstein had set up Niles’ triple with a nice drive and kick. And following a tough mid-range shot by CK’s outstanding freshman Markell Alston, Niles returned the favor, hitting Goldstein with a perfect pass in the shooting pocket for another 3-pointer.

    Goldstein had given the Clippers the 2-point advantage they carried into halftime, opening the period with a steal and basket followed by a 3-pointer.  Junior forward Spencer Mahoney joined the scoring after that connecting on 8 of his 10 points, including a pair of treys. Mahoney also played a key part in the Xaverian’s defensive effort, combining with fellow forwards Lewis and Michael Walker to limit the Royals to one shot most possessions.

   The two teams are similar because both rosters are filled with talent but also very young. They both have experienced growing pains in the always difficult CHSAA “AA” league. The Clippers’ learning curve was steepened by early season injuries to both Mahoney and Walker as well as the early season absence of Nasir Muhammad. Last night’s impressive win was just the 6^th time the Clippers had their full roster together.

   The Royals came into the game having enjoyed a bit more success while talented youngsters like Alston, versatile 6’9” junior Brandon Williams, combo guard Devin Vanterpool and rugged sophomore wing Dwayne Pierce develop. But they too experienced how tough the league can be on Tuesday when they were beaten by St. Francis Prep, the deepest and best-balanced team on the Brooklyn-Queens side of the “AA” league.

   Following Tuesday’s loss to Iona Prep in a game that saw the Clippers squander a double-digit lead the Clippers would need to dig deep to find the resolve they needed to close out a big win. Primarily that came from a stellar start-to-finish defensive effort, but there were a couple of key plays for the offense that helped nail things down for the Clippers. The first came on the very first possession of the final stanza. On the play Niles made a steal and appeared to have an easy layup. Christ the King’s Vanterpool, a deceptively athletic 6’3” junior made a terrific chase down block. It would have been a momentum changing play for the Royals accept that Walker had followed the play, calmly took the hard carom off the board and converted a follow basket, giving the Clippers their largest margin of 16 points.

   The second 4^th quarter moment for the offense came with just over 3 minutes left. Vanterpool, who tied Goldstein for game high scoring honors with 15 points, and Williams who had found his touch in the second half, provided the Royals with an offensive spark. Williams hit a mid-range jumper to cut the margin to 43-33 and the sense in the gym was that a rally might be coming. This time, it was Muhammad’s turn to set up a teammate and he hit sophomore Nico Pena with a perfect transition pass for a trey.  Pena has been one of the Clippers’ most reliable 3-point shooters this season. The Royals guarded him well and to his credit he stayed patient and did not force action. When the opportunity came to make a big shot, he was ready and drilled it. The basket pushed Xavierian’s lead back to 13 and took the air out of a potential rally for the Royals.

   Early this season, national powers Stepinac and Hayes, along with St, Francis Prep have established themselves at the top of the league. But if the young Clippers and Royals can stay focused on improving for a playoff run, they could surprise a favorite or two and make a deep playoff run of their own.

Two Career Highs Lift St. John's to a Big Win in Their Return to Action

 

     On a night that saw St. John’s return from a 17-day COVID pause and open their Big East season, they got career best performances from two players. One, Julian Champagne has his star already well established. The second, Dylan Adde-Wusu has a star that’s just beginning to emerge in this his sophomore season. Together, they lifted the Red Storm to an 89-84 win over DePaul at Carnesecca Arena on a night when Louie celebrated his 97^th birthday.

    “Nothing surprises me about this kid”, coach Mike Anderson said of Champagne after he established career highs with 34 points and 16 rebounds. “He’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve had some good ones who worked hard like Joe Johnson and Bobby Portis”, Anderson said referencing a pair of NBA players whom he coached while at Arkansas. Champagne’s outing was also typically efficient as he converted on 12-22 shots including 4-7 from 3-point range.

   While Champagne started quickly with 13 first half points, it took Adde-Wusu a bit longer to get in the swing of things. He called it “a bad first half” for himself but St. John’s struggled at times also. Fatigue may well have manifested itself in two areas, free throw shooting, where St. John’s shot just 13-23 for the game and defensive rotations, which is harder to quantify but resulted in some easy hoops for DePaul. And while St. John’s led by as many as 11 in the opening stanza, they struggled to maintain a lead. It took a driving layup by Posh Alexander, who oddly did not start the game, to send the Johnnies to the locker room leading by just 4 at 39-35.

   That play turned out to be a portent of things to come for Posh who scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half including a pair of 3 pointers.

   The Johnnies opened up an 8-point margin behind those triples and maintained it until with the score 51-43 DePaul used a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to just one with 15:44 left. A dunk by Adde-Wusu briefly stopped that run but The Blue Demons got right back to work behind West Virginia transfer David Jones who connected on a jumper and a drive. When forward Brandon Johnson connected on a corner triple and converted a free throw, St. John’s found themselves trailing 60-55 11:50 remaining.

    After that Champagne and Montez Mathis helped St. John’s regain some traction offensively. Following a pair of free throws Mathis fed Champagne for a layup and then took a pass from Adde-Wusu for another basket. With St. John’s leading 65-63 with 8:55 to go the two teams traded baskets until Champagne gave St. John’s the lead for good at 71-69 with 7:14 remaining and an assist from Adde-Wusu. On St. John’s next possession O’mar Stanley took a pass from Alexander to give the Red Storm a two-possession margin. After DePaul closed the margin to 73-72 with 5:29 left Adde-Wusu fed Champagne first for a layup and then for a triple to make the score 78-72. Trailing by six DePaul had one last rally. They pulled to within 84-81 on consecutive layups by Brandon Johnson and Jevon Freeman-Liberty. That set the stage for the biggest of many big plays Adde-Wusu made. While he rightly attributed the bulk of his career high 17 points to his cutting and good passing from teammates, the shot that gave the Johnnies an 87-81 lead with 26 seconds left came on a play where the offense was stagnant and they needed and got a terrific clutch shot from a guy who appeared to be improving with each game prior to the COVID break.  If he can become a consistent 3^rd scoring option. St. John’s will become a tough out for any team in the conference. While the Johnnies could not get an NCAA resume building win in non-conference play there will be chances, beginning with Saturday’s game at Providence, to build that resume within league play.

Notes and Observations: Both Rafael Pinzon and Tareq Coburn missed tonight’s game, Coburn due to an injury and Pinzon for COVID related health and safety reasons even though he was present at the game. According to coach Anderson their availability for Saturday’s game will be a game time decision.

Adde-Wusu also had a team high 8 assists for the Johnnies while Joel Soriano had 9 rebounds and 3 blocks to go with 4 points and 3 assists.

DePaul dropped to 0-3 in league play despite a 24 point effort by Freeman-Liberty.