Red Storm Passes First Test In Hoops For Heroes Classic at MSG

 

     Time will tell if Sunday’s 85-71 win for St. John’s over New Mexico at Madison Square Garden will provide the springboard that elevates the Red Storm to an NCAA tournament berth. The battle of the Pitinos, father and son coaches, headlined the proceedings and while Dad’s team beat his son’s defending Mountain West Conference Tournament champions, they know new and difficult tests will follow starting on Thursday when they meet Baylor in the Bahamas. On Sunday the energy, toughness and ability to make winning plays led to an important win against a very good club. The game helped raise funds for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

     ‘I thought we played really good defense in the first half, coach Pitino said of the effort that saw the Johnnies sprint to an 11-point half time advantage. “They (New Mexico) put pressure on you in pick and rolls.”

   The Johnnies were ready, starting Deivon Smith and RJ Luis in a move Pitino said was “just about matchups”. “We had to have Deivon on their point guard (Donovan Dent) to start the game”.

    Starting Smith had a positive impact on the offense as well. The numbers will say that he scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half but his ability to guard Dent with a little help from Zuby Edjifor hedging screens and his ability to push the pace with his quick handle helped the Johnnies put the Lobos back on their heels at times. New Mexico came in as one of the fastest paced teams in the country but they struggled at times with the pace St. John’s, Smith and RJ Luis in particular set.

    Luis finished with 21 points 11 rebounds and a career high 7 assists. He continued the outstanding defense on Dent that Smith provided to start the game He guarded him effectively using his size, length and an agility that he likely did not have last year due to shin splints. His 11 boards led the way as part of a great team effort on the boards for St. John’s who outrebounded the Lobos 49-32. Edjifor added 10 boards to go along with 13 points.

    St. John’s lead by 16 points with 1:27 left in the opening stanza when a quick 5-0 burst by the lobos trimmed that margin to 40-29 at the intermission. Kadary Richmond who finished with 14 points 8 rebounds 4 assists and 4 steals, tipped in the basket to open the second half for the Johnnies to keep the Lobos from extending that rally. Seven turnovers were a blemish on an otherwise fine performance many of his fine plays, including finding Aaron Scott and RJ Luis with passes on baseline cuts, came as New Mexico crept to within single digits.

    Smith and forward Aaron Scott combined on two three-point baskets that may have been the biggest momentum stoppers of all. With 7:16 left after New Mexico pulled to within 63-59 on a great seal and score by Nelly Junior Joseph. Smith had his own shot blocked but retrieved the miss and found Scott who connected on a right-angle triple that pushed St. John’s margin back to 7. Moments later with 4:30 left and St. John’s up by nine Scott became the passer, reversing the ball to Smith who buried a long triple of his own.

    St. John’s had taken and passed a great test on Sunday, one that Luis said the team needed before facing Baylor and Georgia for certain and either Tennessee or Virginia in the middle 2^nd of 3 games.  The Gauntlet, as Rick Pitino called it will be crucial as the Red Storm tries to build a tournament worthy resume

Johnnies Roar Back to Beat Quinnipiac 96-73

 

       Trailing 39-35 at the intermission, St. John’s seemingly flipped a switch and looked like the team fans saw at Carnesecca Arena for last week’s win over Fordham. The final result, a 96-73 win for the Johnnies was not in any way indicative of how close the first 20 minutes had been

            “Give them credit they made us play bad”, Rick Pitino said. “They moved the ball well and shot the ball well. Pitino said.

    Miami of Ohio transfer (and New Jersey native) Ryan Maybury blistered St. John’s defense connecting on 5-8 triples in the opening 20 minutes while point guard Savion Lewis of Half Hollow Hills East on Long Island controlled his team’s space and pace beautifully to take full advantage of Maybry’s hot start. Pecora’s squad also seemed to frustrate the Johnnies with what looked like a match-up zone defense. Pitino cited his team’s very first offensive possession to explain their first half struggles against coach Tom Pecora’s zone defense. “Zuby pops out and takes a 3 right away”, he said. “You can shoot the three but you need to create some movement before you do.”

   St. John’s was able to change the game’s momentum quickly. R.J. Luis’ inside work helped spark a 13-4 run to wipe out the first half deficit. His inside play combined with Devian Smith’s fine passing opened things up for smooth shooting sophomore forward Brady Dunlap. Perhaps his best sequence in what was his best game came during a 16-4 that he started with 8 straight points. The stretch included a pair of 3’s and a tough two pointer where he flashed into the key and made a quick release two pointer. He finished with a career high 20 points on 6-9 shooting from the floor and 5-8 from beyond the arc. Pitino credited Dunlap’s hot shooting with breaking the game open and also cited Smith, who finished with 10 assists to go along with 13 points. Luis had a double double of his own scoring a game high 24 points and adding a career high 13 rebounds. Simeon Wilcher scored in double figures with 14 points. Kadary Richmond despite a quiet scoring game had 6 assists and 6 boards. Reserve center Vincent Iwuchukwu’s numbers were modest (6 points and 6 boards) in 15 minutes but his running the floor and presence at the rim gave the Johnnies a lift.

     Last but not least it’s worth noting that even as he praised his team’s ability to achieve a 61-point second half, he sounded an ominous warning. It was also unexpected since it referenced the Saturday game vs. New Mexico that follows Wednesday’s game vs. Wagner. With the Lobos’ win earlier this week vs. UCLA he said “If our transition defense is like that (in the 1^st half) against New Mexico they will kill us.” Even for a Hall of Fame coach family bragging rights still matter.

St. John's Throttles Fordham in 2024 Season Opener

 

    In last night’s season opening win over local rival Fordham at Carnesecca Arena St. John’s shot 54.5% from the field. Not bad considering that the team devoted much of their preseason work to defense.

    “This year it’s been about 80/20”, coach Rick Pitino said of his emphasis on defense in practice. He explained further that the bulk of that time has been spent on the basics, half court man to man defense.  “We haven’t focused on pressing, haven’t focused on 2-2-1.  All we’ve been doing is working on our man defense our switching defense.” He then explained why, harkening back to last season’s slow start which many fans believe cost them an NCAA tourney bid he said, “….we knew we had to be ready early in the season because of Quinnipiac, New Mexico and then the Bahamas. We have a long way to go but we’re getting better.”

   The emphasis on defense may have been one of several factors that helped the tesm play free and easily. Especially in the first half they eschewed the 3-point shot in favor of a dominant effort both in the paint and in transition. Sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher finished with a team high 17 points+ on 7-9 shooting from the floor. That he shot just 1-2 from beyond the arc may worry some fans but it’s likely a sign that he’s simply more comfortable as a sophomore and will go to his bread-and-butter middle game while taking the three when he can shoot in rhythm.

           “Especially in the beginning of the season last year trying to figure everything out. From the pace of the game to the physicality of everything with a year under my belt and having so I can grow and become a better player Everything just feels like I’m just going with the game and not really thinking too much,” Wilcher said.

The comfort he described is likely aided by two transfer portal additions Kadary Richmond and Devian Smith.  Richmond played, with new teammates, the kind of game that Big East fans have come to expect from his time at Seton Hall and New York hoops fans know from his time at PSAL power South Shore High. He finished with 16 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists. He and forward Aaron Scott another portal addition from North Texas State helped provide a mobile and physical presence that can help the defense all season long. Smith added a team high 6 assists and provided steady pressure on the ball defensively. St. John’s led by 14 at the half and broke the game open as Scott and sophomore forward Brady Dunlap found the range from beyond the arc. Jackie Johnson III a senior transfer from UNLV kept Fordham within hailing distance in the 1^st half and finished with a game high 23 points. The Johnnies will play Quinnipiac at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday at 2pm.

 

Johnnies Face Tough Road Following a Disappointing Garden Debut

 

      St. John’s will head into their game Thursday against North Texas facing an early test. They will try and bounce back from an 89-73 loss to Michigan in a game that was supposed to be a grand Garden opening for Rick Pitino and the Johnnies but turned out to be considerably less than that.

    Michigan’s backcourt of Nimari Burnett and Dug McDaniel combined for 47 points while posting career highs of 21 and 26 points respectively. They may provide an example of what can be effective team building in this new age of college hoops. Burnett, is a long athletic wing who transferred to Ann Arbor from Alabama. McDaniel, on the other hand is a sophomore at Michigan a rare (these days) returning player who’s well known to recruiting gurus in these parts for his good work at Pope Paul VI High School in Washington DC.

   Burnett torched the Johnnies from the start scoring 15 of his team’s first 16 points and finishing the 1^st half with all of his 21 points. After Chris Ledlum’s free throw gave St. John’s a 31-29 advantage Burnett’s third 3-ball of the opening half gave the Wolverines the lead for good. Michigan closed the half with an 11-3 spurt and lead 48-38 at the intermission.

            Pitino was succinct and to the point (play on words intended) when he described McDaniel’s performance by saying simply “he dominated us” That choice of words may have been a reaction more to what he saw on the court than what he read on the stat sheet. McDaniel set an early tone of physicality for his team and ran their offense perfectly. And in the second half while Burnett was quiet he took on a share of the scoring load, adding 16 of his 26 in the latter 20 minutes.

    Pitino admitted that St. John’s played terribly at both ends of the floor but said that the dysfunctional offense surprised him the most. “They went one-on-one way too much,” Pitino said of his team. “That was surprising because we hadn’t seen that from our guys.”

            Hopefully the quick turnaround and a trip to Charleston will provide the fresh look at things the team now seems to need. This early season adversity is an important test St. John’s must pass.

  Congratulations to Joel Soriano Joel scored the 1000^th point of his career in the 1^st half of tonight’s game. The senior from Stepinac HS scored a team high 15 points and had 6 rebounds for the Johnnies.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

  

St. John's Celebrates With Big Win

 

     On a day that saw St. John’s celebrate their coach’s birthday and a career milestone for their best player and leader, Julian Champagne, the team played its most complete game of the season. In what would ultimately be an 82-64 win for the Johnnies over Patriot League rival Colgate, coach Mike Anderson saw his team build and maintain a significant margin. The reasons for their success were simple, fewer turnovers, and bench production.

    The Johnnies committed just six turnovers and moved the ball crisply for easy transition buckets from start to finish. Their play was highlighted by two transition buckets that were two pass fast breaks where the ball never hit the ground; one following a Montez Mathis steal where he passed the ball ahead to Champagnie who, without a dribble floated a pass ahead to Posh Alexander for a layup, and then a second following a Champagnie block that saw Pinzon pick up the loose ball and hit Posh, again without a dribble, for another easy deuce.

    Two nods of appreciation must be given before we take a closer look at the bench production. The first is to Dylan Adde-Wusu, whose entrance into the starting lineup following the loss to Kansas on December 7^th has helped the starting lineup by adding a player who moves the ball, guards multiple positions in multiple areas (in the post and on the perimeter) and has the ability to start the offense, no small thing because it compliments Alexander’s relentlessness attacking the basket. Wusu’s place as a starter also means that Stef Smith can come off the bench with even more of a scorer’s mentality than he usually does, while he may not be part of a complete second unit, his ability to score when starters, particularly Posh and/or Julian are off the floor, becomes more important.

    The second nod is to coach Anderson who has insisted that the big picture for this year’s edition of the Red Storm include developing the bench and, to borrow his words from previous post-game pressers “make it a strong part of our team.” For now, that remains a lofty ambition, and time will tell whether yesterday’s game was a step in that direction. In the short term, the bench helped them avoid a repeat of the scary end game situation they encountered vs. Monmouth where it took an alert defensive play by Alexander to save a possession and ultimately preserve a tight win. Grad transfers Smith and Aaron Wheeler played well but the best work of the bench brigade came from the two freshmen, O’mar Stanley and Rafael Pinzon.  Stanley had 6 points and 5 rebounds while continuing to provide St. John’s defense with a defender who can hedge and switch while playing the “5” position. Pinzon, the former Long Island Lutheran star who has struggled since a thumb injury suffered in practice following the loss to Indiana broke out in a big way with 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 3 assists. “I keep using this word; he’s got moxie,” Anderson said of Pinzon. “When you look at him and O’mar (Stanley) they bring a lot to the table. He (Pinzon) has a good basketball IQ he plays with nice flair and basketball savvy,” said the coach.

   All tolled the bench accounted for 34 points which may well have kept Colgate’s strong 3-point shooting game (they made 13) from becoming the equalizer it might have been and has been. Colgate had the lead only briefly in the 1^st half and St. John’s not only extended it to 23 points but kept Colgate from posing a serious threat.  For that reason, it was not only a great birthday present for the coach but an early Christmas gift for the fans.

Notes and Observations: Champagnie achieved the 1,000-point milestone in a typically efficient game, scoring 19 points on 7-12 shooting including 5-7 beyond the arc. He became the 52^nd player in the program’s history to reach that total and met the moment with characteristic humility. “It’s exciting to join a great list of guys who did that here. I take pride in it but it’s on to the next game,” he said.

Colgate played the game without leading scorer and point guard Nelly Cummings. The senior missed the game with what was called an “upper body injury” Senior Jack Ferguson scored a game high 23 points for the Red Raiders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. John's Escapes Upset Bid By NJIT 77-68

 

        Joel Soriano opened the overtime period by snaring on offensive rebound and converting a pass from Dylan Adde-Wusu. After James Lee and Montez Mathis traded hoops and St. John’s led 67-65, Soriano took another pass, this time from Julian Champagne who converted a hoop & harm 3-point play. Lee responded for NJIT with a three-point play of his own to trim the lead back to 2 points at 70-68. From there St. John’s would score the last 7 points of the extra session to earn a 77-68 win over America East foe NJIT at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday.

    It took St. John’s a while to get going as NJIT, behind a quartet of talented guards, controlled the tempo for the game’s first 20 minutes. There wasn’t in this game the 3-point barrage there had been Wednesday by St. Francis but there was a slow and steady approach in which NJIT ran their sets and maintained a small lead throughout much of the first half. When Posh Alexander took a pass from Montez Mathis to give St. John’s a 5-point lead, the highlanders calmly inbounded the ball and Antwuan Butler threw a perfect hit ahead pass to Dylan O’Hearn who stroked a 3-ball and sent the Highlanders into the locker room trailing by just 33-31.

   The Johnnies appeared to take control of the game with a 17-5 run that included 10 straight points. It gave them a 58-42 lead with just over 11 minutes to go. Posh Alexander, returning from a calf strain that caused him to miss Wednesday’s game lead the rally with steals, a play that saw him soar through the air to get an offensive rebound and convert to free throws, and the terrific ball pressure that makes St. John’s defense go. “It’s contagious”. Coach Mike Anderson said of Alexander’s energy. “It picks up the whole team.”

    St. John’s got some energy from an unexpected source at the back end of that defense. Juco transfer Esahia Nyiwe scored just a single point on a free throw he banked in but during the aforementioned rally he had 3 blocks, a steal and 3 rebounds. He also proved to be a valuable defender, providing not only rim protection but the ability to switch on dribble hand off action and ball screens. “He didn’t have to score but he made a major contribution”, Anderson said of Nyiwe.

      With his team leading by 16 Anderson took out the unit that had sparked the rally to give them rest. It nearly backfired as the team never regained their flow on offense as they made just a pair of field goals while NJIT went on a 21-5 run to tie the game at the end of regulation.  They were fortunate to get just enough offense to start the overtime and 4 clutch free throws from Wusu to survive another scare.

Notes And Observations Soriano and Alexander tied for team high scoring honors with 16 each for the Johnnies. Guard Dylan O’Hearn had game high honors with 19 points while Lee added 17 for NJIT

When asked why he took the unit out that had built the 16-point advantage Coach Anderson cited the amount of time that unit had been in the game as well as his desire to develop a strong bench.

Freshman guard Rafael Pinson missed his 3^rd straight game with a broken finger. Coach Anderson said that he would hopefully begin shooting “next week” but that they would be cautious with the injury.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. John's Holds off FDU 87-74

 

    The optimistic St. John’s fan might look at yesterday’s 87-74 win over FDU and like that they overcame an uncharacteristically poor shooting game from star forward Julian Champagne. The pessimistic fan might lament St. John’s poor defense against FDU’s 3-point attack, 15 turnovers, many of which were unforced, and a lethargy that marked St. John’s effort after a fast start.

    Wingman Montez Mathis scored 5 quick points in the game’s opening moments, and 9 of his 13 for the game in the opening half. He and fellow transfer Steff Smith, who scored 9 of his 14 in the opening 20 minutes, helped trigger a 20-9 spurt in the middle of the half that helped St. John’s to a 45-32 halftime advantage. Careless turnovers kept that margin from becoming more significant as the first half drew to a close. And to their credit FDU was able to find a bit of traction on offense despite their leading scorer, Brandon Rush, missing his first 6 shots.

  St. John’s extended their margin to 20 with the help of a 9-0 run capped by a Dylan Adde-Wusu triple. FDU rallied behind the terrific shooting of junior guard Devon Dunn, who scored 15 of his game high 24 in the second half. Rush regrouped from his slow shooting start with the help of two terrifically athletic drives to score 12 of his 14 points in the second half. The Knights carved the lead to single digits twice in the second half. Lead by Dunn’s 6-8 FDU shot 50% as a team from beyond the arc while St. John’s shot just 23% on 5 for 22 shooting.

   Despite shooting just 6-19 from the floor Champagne finished with 17 points 10 boards and 3 steals. Wusu finished with a team high 5 assists to go with 6 points. Dunn’s 24 points took game high scoring honors.

Notes & Observations: St. John’s played yesterday without freshman Rafael Pinzon and grad transfer Tareq Coburn who missed the game due to injury and illness. Pinzon reportedly suffered a small fracture to his finger in practice on Friday and will be evaluated tomorrow (Monday). Coburn was absent due to non-Covid related illness.

Grad transfer Aaron Wheeler may prove to be a barometer guy as the season moves along. Yesterday he had a terrific sequence in the second half that included a triple, a drive to the basket and an assist. The drive was a play where he needed just a couple of dribbles to get to the basket and it appears that he can attack the basket in smaller spaces but struggles when trying to handle the ball farther away from the hoop. If he can become a consistent mistake free source of energy for the Johnnies it will help them as the competition gets tougher.

Last but not least a shoutout to a pair of my favorite New York CHSAA players, both from Bronx schools, who gave FDU some very good minutes. Joe Munden Jr. the physical wing from Msgr. Scanlon who’s now a sophomore at FDU finished with 10 points and 2 rebounds off the bench. Freshman Ibrahim Wattara of Mt. St. Michael’s Academy played as he always has, tough inside despite giving up size and length. He finished with 8 points and 3 boards off the bench. Both guys will be important players as FDU competes for the tournament bid in the Northeast Conference

 

 

Quick Start Lifts Red Storm Over Peacocks 91-70

 

    Coach Mike Anderson referred to last season’s 76-75 win over St. Peter’s as “a nail biter”.  In that game the Johnnies needed a last second jumper from the since departed Vince Cole to avoid an upset. Anderson reminded his team that the Peacocks had brought nearly the entire roster of that team back. To avoid a repeat of last season’s drama things would have to be a bit different.

    “We wanted to establish how we defensively how we wanted to play”, Anderson said following his team’s 91-70 win at Carnesecca Arena last night. “We emphasized keeping them out of the lane and using our size advantage on the glass and of course we made some shots.”

   Making shots provided the early springboard for the Johnnies fast start. Julian Champagne and Posh Alexander each connected on 3-pointers and Joel Soriano had two early dunks, one on a pretty drive and dish from Alexander to sprint to an early 13-5 advantage. Following a bucket by St. Peter’s Clarence Rupert hot shooting by Champagne and Hofstra transfer Tareq Coburn propelled St. John’s on a 21-5 spurt and effectively broke the game open. Alexander tied his career high with 9 assists with just one turnover. Champagne finished with an efficient 22 points on 5-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Alexander had 12 his own while grad transfers Coburn and Wheeler finished with 17 and 11 respectively. Wheeler’s defensive energy was perhaps his most important contribution to the win since he and Soriano improve St. John’s ability to challenge shots at the rim with their length. The Johnnies blocked 7 as a team but changed several more. And they negated the effectiveness of St. Peter’s driving guards and undersized bigs, including Elmont native and former Lincoln High standout KC Ndefo, who was held to just 5 points and 3 rebounds.

    Champagne noted that St. John’s has done a good job playing “with an edge” defensively and that will become important as they hit the road for a step up in weight class against Indiana on Wednesday where they will see former Knicks’ head man Mike Woodson who’s in his first year coaching at his alma mater.

Notes and Observations O’mar Stanley continues to make a terrific first impression with his energy, strength and finishing ability. In two games he has made all of his first 10 career shots, and given consistent energy as a rim runner and rebounder.

 St. John’s shot 30-59 from the floor including 13-29 from beyond the arc.

 

   A pair of stellar New York City guards Dwayne Pierce (’24) and Markell Alston (’25) were at the game with their coach Joe Arbitello of Christ the King High.

As mentioned in the game story St. Peter’s has nearly everyone back from last season. It’s worth noting that they received a strong effort from a newcomer who is familiar to fans of local basketball. Jaylen Murray a Bronx native who played at both Wings Academy and Cardinal Hayes finished with 11 points and 3 assists in 21 minutes.

My First Blog Post Since the Pandemic So Glad to be Back

 

618 days.  According to old friend and St. John’s radio color man Vin Parise, that’s the last time St. John’s played a game at Carnesecca Arena. I read that on my twitter feed and to say it gave me pause as I started to write this was an understatement. I know that prior to the exhibition game against Baruch on October 27^th the last time I was at a game of any kind was in February of 2020 to see the Brooklyn Queens Diocesan championship at St. Francis Prep.  Since then, the pandemic has kept us away from people and things we took for granted prior to this terrible tragedy. With this in mind, rather than write about last night’s 119-61 win by St. John’s over Mississippi Valley State I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of those people who helped me while I was almost completely limited to my apartment. Those include caregivers first and foremost, who made sure I was comfortable and safe. They include family and friends who made sure that in the absence of physical contact I always had company. I want you all to know that every DM, text, phone call and masked personal visit was needed and appreciated. And in particular the talk about basketball, even the transfer portal provided a needed respite not only from the outside world but from loneliness. Last night was about quite a bit more than the result of the ballgame, or even the energy in the arena. It was about reconnecting with old and good friends and smiling just because it’s good to see them. It was about getting a small piece of life back. To all who helped me, thanks for getting me here.

      My plan is to begin writing about St. John’s again as well as about high school basketball. I have posted lots of things on twitter particularly during the CHSAA’s spring tournament. Going to high school games won’t be quite the same because I won’t see Tom Konchalski at games any more. His softly spoken good humor and firm handshake will be with me, and all of us in the basketball community. After 618 days and then some, I’m looking forward to a wonderful and complete season, with fans in the stands, with success for St. John’s, and the ability once again to write and report on the high school players and coaches who are the foundation of New York’s basketball culture.

St. John's Gets First Conference Win with 94-83 Victory Vs, Georgetown

 

           On a Big East Sunday that saw Xavier avoid a home loss to Marquette with a buzzer beating 3-pointer, Creighton escape with an overtime win at UConn in their return to league play, and Providence earn a road win at Seton Hall also in overtime on a last second trey of their own, St. John’s first conference win over Georgetown wasn’t nearly as dramatic.  It was, however, exactly what the team needed.

     “We finally put a game together for the most part,” Coach Mike Anderson said of his team’s 94-83 win over Georgetown last night.  “We were connected defensively…we changed the lineup a bit and made shots.  I thought that translated to our defense.”

            One lineup change had a clear affect in the scoring column. Vince Cole opened the game with Greg Williams and Posh Alexander as the back court trio and he responded with a 17-point effort on 3-8 shooting from distance. The other change did not have nearly the impact on the box score. In fact, Arnaldo Toro did not have a single field goal try on his stat line, scored just one point and had 5 rebounds with 3 assists in 19 minutes. Those are modest numbers to be sure but Toro’s contributions, though subtle were essential. His play went a long way towards helping St. John’s find the connectedness that had been lacking in the first 3 conference losses. On offense he facilitated ball movement with his passes and screening and on defense his hedging and rotations were outstanding. He also provided needed physicality against Georgetown’s sophomore center Qudus Wahab who finished 1 block short of a triple double in last week’s overtime win for the Hoyas but was limited to just 12 points and 6 caroms in last night’s loss.

    Slow starts have plagued St. John’s all season long and when Georgetown sprinted to an 8-2 lead it looked like that scenario would repeat itself. The team had other ideas as they responded with an 18-4 run highlighted by 8 points from Julian Champagne and a triple from Cole assisted by Toro. The trey was one of 10 St. John’s had as they established a season high for 3’s in the first half alone. They finished the game with 13 on 29 tries.

   Despite the hot shooting the Johnnies led by just 8 and saw that lead nearly disappear when the Hoyas went on an 8-2 run over a 3-minute span to close the margin to just two points. Williams, who finished with a game high 26 points then made his biggest of many important shots after Champagne scrambled for a loose ball, fed him and he drained a long trey. A few minutes later with 11;31 left Isaih Moore drove the baseline, hit a layup and drew Whahab’s 4^th personal foul. The basket and free throw pushed St. John’s margin to 65-54. Thanks to continued scoring from Williams and Champagne, and terrific hustle and decision making from freshman point guard Posh Alexander the Johnnies lead never slipped below double digits again. Five Johnnies finished in double figures in the win while Jahvon Blair had a team high 25 for the Hoyas. Champagne finished with 20 points 9 rebounds and a career high-tying 4 assists for the Johnnies.

“We just played together,” Greg Williams said summing up the team’s stellar effort. “We played together and we played with a lot of trust and that led to good things.”