Quick Hitters – January 21, 2012

Quick hitters as we head into a busy Saturday:

• If there was any doubt as to the value of a point guard, look no further than Boston University and floor leader D.J. Irving. There are a few reasons the Terriers have now won five games in a row and is tied with Stony Brook (who they beat last Saturday) atop the America East Conference, but Irving’s return to health following a concussion last month is chief among them. That was readily apparent to one opposing coach, who thinks he’s the Terriers’ best player.

  “I think they’re at their best when the ball is in his hands and getting guys shots,” said Albany head coach Will Brown.

… Continue Reading

Holy Cross may be turning a corner after pulling out a close one

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross may have conquered a demon in Saturday night’s 62-57 win over New Hampshire. The Crusaders appeared to have the game locked up in the final minute, leading by ten, but they allowed the Wildcats a couple of extra chances that suddenly made it a ballgame. A year ago, they might have ultimately blown this game, but the Crusaders pulled it out by doing just enough late.

The Crusaders led 60-50 with 38 seconds left after two free throws by Justin Burrell. The game was all but in hand at that point, especially since the Crusaders fought back rallies all night long. Then two missed free throws and two missed turnovers, one in their own end, helped New Hampshire suddenly get within 60-57. Burrell then sank two more free throws to finally seal the game and get the Crusaders over the hump.

… Continue Reading

Holy Cross Needs to Turn Things Around Again

Early in Patriot League play, it looked like Holy Cross was turning a corner. That was bound to happen considering the talent on the team and the familiarity they have with the league. They started off 2-0, then were 3-1 with the only loss coming at Bucknell, which is not a bad loss by any stretch. But now the Crusaders will go into February with a three-game losing streak after a bad loss to Colgate at home and a tough overtime loss at defending champion Lehigh on Saturday.

Thursday night’s 79-72 loss is a stinger. Colgate had shot better than 45 percent from the field just once all season prior to Thursday night’s game. So a look at the final box score showing that the Red Raiders shot 55.4 percent from the field would be the first sign that this wasn’t a good night. … Continue Reading

It’s All About the Patriot League for Holy Cross

WASHINGTON – Holy Cross is putting all its hopes on the Patriot League. That might not seem surprising even if you knew nothing about their record, considering Patriot League teams rarely have a non-conference resume with the kind of wins that put them in the discussion for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. But that has taken on new meaning as league play approaches.

In the Crusaders’ 58-57 loss at George Washington, they were more short-handed than they have been at other times this season. R.J. Evans missed his fourth straight game with a sports hernia, and may be out a while longer since he can’t do anything physical, including conditioning. Phil Beans has been out for the same amount of time with a foot injury. Now, Andrew Keister has joined the walking wounded with an Achilles injury that they have to be careful with. … Continue Reading

First Win Still Elusive for Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – There’s no way to put a pretty face on it, no positive way to spin it. Holy Cross is in a bad state at the moment, with their 0-8 mark the worst start in program history. It was one thing to lose the first game or two, and perhaps even another couple of games, but things are at a different point now.

“It is frustrating. You can’t ignore zero wins,” senior point guard Andrew Beinert said. “We want to win, and that’s what our goal is.”

Holy Cross hasn’t been out-classed all season. The Crusaders have been in position to win games, although only a couple of them might qualify as heart-breaking losses. While last season’s team struggled to stop opposing teams, they were able to score. This season’s team has struggled offensively while also struggling on the defensive end often, although if there is a silver lining it appears that they are making strides there of late. Most of all, they have been their own worst enemy. … Continue Reading

Holy Cross Isn’t Getting Anything Easy

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – It hasn’t been the smoothest of starts for Holy Cross, where things were expected to be different this season. It’s still early, and there’s no reason to expect a repeat of last season’s 9-22 showing, but the Crusaders’ 0-4 start – the second season in a row where they have lost their first four (they lost their first six last year) – isn’t exactly what was envisioned, either.

For a little over a half, the Crusaders were right with Boston College. Even when BC went up 55-40 and seemed to be in control, Holy Cross scored seven straight to get within striking distance. But the Eagles followed up with a 14-2 run to put the game away. … Continue Reading

Harvard Unexpectedly Routs Holy Cross

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sometimes, “dominant” isn’t quite the word to describe how one team played in a game. Wednesday might have been one of those nights with the way Harvard man-handled Holy Cross 72-49 in their home opener in a game that wasn’t even that close.

The Crimson primarily won this game on defense, as Holy Cross’ 49 points might imply. More numbers show it as well, such as the Crusaders shooting below 40 percent from the field and committing 15 turnovers with just eight assists. However, that wasn’t all, and the primary numbers obscure how they did it. First and foremost, the Crimson’s transition defense was excellent all night long, rarely letting Holy Cross get a fast break chance. … Continue Reading

Crusaders Ready With Another New Head Coach

WORCESTER, Mass. – It’s not every day that Holy Cross goes through three head coaches in as many years. The school has as much tradition as any Division I school in New England, and coaching stability has been part of that. With it comes some challenges, although from a personnel standpoint the Crusaders have a lot to like.

Milan Brown came to the school this spring after starting his head coaching career at Mount St. Mary’s. He took over for legendary coach Jim Phelan and spent seven seasons there, leading them to two postseason appearances the past three seasons. His style fits the profile of successful Holy Cross teams as a defense-oriented coach, as his teams made their mark at that end of the floor. In contrast, last season’s head coach, Sean Kearney, tried to play much faster on offense than the team has often played, and the team struggled defensively. … Continue Reading

2010 Patriot League Post-Mortem

The Patriot League continued to have a little different look this year, notably in the standings. For a while, it was dominated by Holy Cross and Bucknell, but for the third year in a row a program other than those two won the title. Two years ago, they shockingly finished at the bottom of the league; last year, Holy Cross finished second while Bucknell tied for last; and this season, they switched places as Bucknell finished second and Holy Cross suffered through a disastrous 9-22 season.

Last year, Lehigh showed signs of contending when they made a great non-league run, but they didn’t get it done in league play. This year, the Mountain Hawks were the best team for much of the season, and they carried that into the league tournament with three wins for the title. A big reason for that was, oddly enough, a freshman. C.J. McCollum wasted no time becoming a star, as he won Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, the first player in league history to do so. He was second in the league in scoring overall, but it was in league play where he shined the most as he led in scoring, was sixth in rebounding and field goal percentage, third in three-point percentage and seventh in assists and assist/turnover ratio.

McCollum is symbolic of something else that is different about the league, which is the young talent. Oftentimes, young players in a league like this take a back seat to the veterans, but the Patriot League had a lot of young talent this year. Five of the top ten scorers, four of the top nine rebounders and five of the top seven three-point marksmen were underclassmen. McCollum wasn’t the only freshman on his team to be a key player, as Gabe Knutson was also a starter and key player for the Mountain Hawks. Bucknell placed three players on the All-Rookie team, the first team in league history to do that, and all played significant roles for the Bison this season along with sophomore Bryan Cohen, an All-Rookie selection a year ago. Lafayette got to the final in no small part due to the work of sophomores Jim Mower and Ryan Willen. Holy Cross was at times carried by sophomores R.J. Evans and Devin Brown. Jordan Sugars was the main complement to senior Chris Harris at Navy. Stephen Lumpkins teamed with George Mason transfer Vlad Moldoveanu for a solid 1-2 punch inside for American.

While the league is looking different, the young talent is evidence that there is good basketball ahead for the league in the immediate future. The difference in the standings shows that teams have done their best to rise to the level that Holy Cross and Bucknell were at just a few years ago, and some have succeeded.

Final Standings

League Tournament

The story of the Patriot League Tournament was the dominance of eventual champion Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks won all three games by at least 15 points. They took care of Army in the quarterfinals by pulling away late, while Lafayette and American won at home and Holy Cross was the lone road team to pull out a win as they knocked off Bucknell 67-64 in Lewisburg. The Mountain Hawks weren’t seriously challenged by American in a 79-57 semifinal win, while Lafayette won a back-and-forth battle with Holy Cross 66-63. That set up a championship game between two arch-rivals.

Lehigh led from start to finish, but was challenged in the second half by Lafayette. The Leopards made several runs at the lead, but could never tie the game. The final ten minutes were dominated by Lehigh senior Zahir Carrington, who took home the tournament MVP honors as he helped the Mountain Hawks pull away for a 74-59 win. Lehigh finished the game on a 12-1 run.

Postseason Awards

Player of the Year: C.J. McCollum, Lehigh

Rookie of the Year: C.J. McCollum, Lehigh

Defensive Player of the Year: Bryan Cohen, Bucknell

Coach of the Year: Fran O’Hanlon, Lafayette

All-Conference Team

Chris Harris, Sr. G, Navy

C.J. McCollum, Fr. G, Lehigh

Jared Mintz, Jr. F, Lafayette

Vlad Moldoveanu, Jr. F, American

Kyle Roemer, Sr. F, Colgate

Season Highlights

• Marquis Hall, who had a fine freshman season of his own three years ago, finished his career most importantly with a Patriot League title, but also with a great accomplishment. The two-time Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year graduates as the only player in league history to surpass 1,500 points and 500 assists.
• Army got a lot of buzz in non-league play, as new head coach Zach Spiker was getting results right away. The Black Knights haven’t lacked talent in recent years, so their record before league play wasn’t a big surprise. They rode winning streaks of five and four games to a 10-4 mark.
• Vlad Moldoveanu made an instant impact for American once he was eligible in December after transferring from George Mason. He was third in scoring and rebounding in league games, as he didn’t play in enough games to qualify for the overall lead in any categories.
• Lehigh was eighth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage at just under 40 percent from behind the arc.

What we expected, and it happened: Bucknell was more like the Bucknell of a few years ago. The Bison were hit hard by injuries in 2008-09 and also had a coaching change to adjust to. With a year under Dave Paulson and a good freshman class, the Bison had some growing pains in non-league play but finished second in the league behind Lehigh.

What we expected, and it didn’t happen: Holy Cross was the pick of many as the favorite before the season, but they didn’t come close to that, finishing 9-22 and seventh in the standings, a game out of last place. The Crusaders struggled at the defensive end for much of the season, and it showed in the win-loss column. Sean Kearney lasted just one season as the head coach, replaced by former Mount St. Mary’s head coach Milan Brown.

What we didn’t expect, and it happened: Lafayette was in contention for the top spot and made it to the championship game. The Leopards won eight games a year ago and didn’t look the part of a contender coming in, but they were right in the mix for the top spot and gave Lehigh a good game in the final of the tournament before a late run put the game away.

Team(s) on the rise: Bucknell. The Bison are back and the likely preseason favorite next year after a good showing in league play. Four of their top five were freshmen or sophomores this past season.

Team(s) on the decline: Colgate. A couple of years ago, the Raiders were in the title game. Now Kyle Roemer and Ben Jonson are gone from a team that finished sixth in the league.

2010-11 Patriot League Outlook

With the younger talent in the league, the future is bright. Just about every team projects to be better next season, so the league should improve on its non-league mark in addition to having a hotly contested race for the top starting in January. Six of the ten all-league players return, and all of the All-Rookie selections should contend for spots on that team before long.

Lehigh will have a chance to repeat, but the early favorite has to be Bucknell as the Bison bring back a lot of young talent that will only get better. Lafayette should be in the mix as they also bring back a lot, while American had growing pains with a less experienced roster this year. Holy Cross and Army each have the personnel to potentially make a jump into the top half as well.

If the league has the kind of year it could next year, ultimately it would be safe to say that the rest of the league succeeded in getting better to catch up to Holy Cross and Bucknell. They had little choice but to do so, and having done so the Crusaders and Bison are certainly not dominating the league any longer and not because they have fallen apart.

Defense Lifts Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross knows that the way to win is by playing defense.  As such, the Crusaders know that the wins have been hard to come by this season because they have had some struggles at that end of the floor.  But they certainly showed up there on Sunday, as they started the crucial final week of the regular season with a 64-51 win over American.

In the first meeting between the teams, American’s post combination of Vlad Moldoveanu and Stephen Lumpkins combined for 37 points and 23 rebounds in a 71-64 win.  Head coach Sean Kearney challenged his team, especially his big men, for a better effort this time around.  He got it from everyone who got in the game, and the end result followed.

“(Moldoveanu and Lumpkins) had great numbers against us and I challenged our whole team, but I think our big guys really took that as a personal challenge,” Kearney said.

This time around, Holy Cross went with a zone defense that they executed well.  They shut down Moldoveanu, who was 2-9 from the field en route to just seven points and three rebounds, and Lumpkins had 16 and seven.  Lumpkins’ numbers aren’t bad, but compared to the first meeting, it’s a lot better for Holy Cross.

“The number one key defensively was having a great awareness for (Moldoveanu),” said junior forward Andrew Keister, who had 15 points and 18 rebounds to lead Holy Cross.  “Down there, we had the same key, and I think sometimes throughout the year we let (the opponent’s) best player beat us at times.”

Besides the numbers, Moldoveanu didn’t get a lot of touches because the Crusaders shut off passing lanes where he was.  Most of the shots he got weren’t really in the flow of the offense, a sign of how well the Crusaders played at that end of the floor.

With that effort, Holy Cross held an opponent below 40 percent from the field for the eighth time this season.  Six of their eight wins have come in such outings, driving home the reality that defense is the key for this team.  As they don’t force a lot of turnovers, the opponent’s field goal percentage is the bigger statistic.

“We know that the way we win is playing defense,” said junior point guard Andrew Beinert.  “That’s the only way we’re going to come out on top.”

The Crusaders have now begun the final week of regular season play, a stretch with three games in seven days.  They improved to 5-7 in the Patriot League with Sunday’s win.  They can still get to .500 in the league, but that would mean putting together a season-high three-game winning streak that would finish with a win at Lehigh, which looks like the league’s best team.  In light of that, it’s easy to see why they are perhaps cautiously optimistic about going on a run to end the regular season.

“After the Lafayette and Army wins, I thought we were going to go on a run,” said Keister.  “I think we all believed that.  Then we played a tough Bucknell team at Bucknell and had a tough loss at Navy.”

Not helping matters is that the Crusaders may need to make such a run without their best player, R.J. Evans.  The sophomore guard has been sidelined since their loss at Bucknell, when he suffered a hip injury that limited him to 19 minutes at Navy.  Kearney said they were hopeful that he could play on Sunday, but Evans sat out the game in street clothes.  That’s probably why he is uncertain about when he may be able to come back, saying only that Evans is “out indefinitely”.  They are already without Adam May, whose season is over due to a stress fracture in his right foot.

If the Crusaders make a run to reach .500 in the league, they will do so with their defense.  And if they get there, it’s fair to say they can be a dangerous team in the league tournament.

“I think if we’re playing well heading into the tournament, there probably isn’t a team that would be excited about having to play us,” Kearney said.

Defense Starting to Come Around for Holy Cross

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Holy Cross forged its identity under Ralph Willard at the defensive end.  Thus far under new head coach Sean Kearney, success there has been slow to come, but lately that seems to be changing, and at a good time.

During Willard’s tenure, the Crusaders were consistently one of, if not the, best defensive teams in the Patriot League.  Their numbers on scoring defense ranked high nationally, but that number also reflects the pace of the game as much as a team’s defensive prowess.  Still, the Crusaders have held opponents to some good field goal percentage and turnover numbers, although not always as good as the 39 percent opponents shot against them in 2004-05.  Opponents also turned the ball over more than 17 times per game that season.  Even two seasons ago, when they were 15-14, opponents shot 41 percent from the field against them and turned the ball over nearly 14 times per game, so defense wasn’t why they were barely above .500.

The Crusaders are adjusting to a whole new offensive system, and because it’s faster, chances are the scoring defense numbers won’t match many of those of the Willard era.  And while the adjustment to a new offensive style has slowed the team at times, the bigger issue has been on defense, where the numbers haven’t been good.  Holy Cross entered Saturday’s game against Central Connecticut allowing opponents to shoot 45 percent from the field, forcing just over 11 turnovers per game.

In light of that, it’s no surprise where the focus has been of late for this team.

“Our main focus the last three weeks in practice has been on defense,” said sophomore guard R.J. Evans, who was playing close to his hometown of Salem.  “We’re going to score points.  We have a lot of talent on offense, but we have to lock in on defense and get stops.”

With the defensive struggles, wins have been hard to come by.  But the tide may be turning.  In their prior two games, both tough losses to George Washington and at Stony Brook, the Crusaders held the opposition below 40 percent shooting, which they had done just once all season beforehand.  Saturday, they kept it going in a big way, holding Central Connecticut to 29.3 percent from the field in their 70-53 win.

Kearney noted that the Crusaders largely played zone against Stony Brook before going almost entirely man-to-man against Central Connecticut.  So not only are the percentages a good sign, with Saturday’s a season low, but their adjustment to a different defense is as well.

For Saturday’s game, Kearney went with a smaller lineup since Central Connecticut wasn’t a big team.  He inserted Devin Brown into the lineup and moved Eric Meister to the bench to essentially play with four guards, and admitted the move was more offensive in nature since he felt the Blue Devils would pressure them.  While Brown had a solid all-around offensive game in scoring a game-high 19 points, Kearney also noted that, “as it turns out, I think it helped us on the defensive end, too.”

Brown has been an offensive sparkplug of late, giving them good scoring off the bench and especially with long range shooting.  He was 7-13 from the field on Saturday and 2-6 from long range, scoring well on some drives and getting a conventional three-point play as well.

The Crusaders aren’t likely to go back to this lineup against a bigger North Carolina State team in their final non-league game, but might find it useful later depending on the matchup.  Against another smaller team, this lineup might work, but it’s hardly set in stone just because it worked on Saturday.

Better defense is likely to bring a few more wins since the offense has generally held up well even with the adjustment.  Kearney admits he finds himself wishing they could have a game or two back, but all he can do is keep this team moving forward.

“These guys have worked hard and I think they’ve listened to myself and our staff, and they try to buy in and do what we do,” said the first-year head coach.  “I have no complaints for this group.”

The Crusaders aren’t going to put up the kind of scoring defense numbers they did in the Willard era playing at a faster pace.  But if this team plays the kind of defense they have in the last three games, they can match some of the better defensive numbers those teams put up in terms of opponents field goal percentages.  With that should come more wins, meaning they might put up some of the more important numbers of the Willard era.

Willard Speaks on Siena-Holy Cross Game

Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard was hoping to hear from Siena head coach Fran McCaffery to talk about what happened last week when the two teams met and had an ending that surprised just about everyone there. His preference was, understandably, to keep things in-house on the matter.

Since that has not happened, and McCaffery continued to hammer the Crusaders last week in published reports, Willard reluctantly took things to a public forum on his blog. You can read it in its entirety at the link, but here’s one noteworthy excerpt:

“(Fran McCaffery’s) reaction after the game this year shocked me. I have coached over 500 games at the college level, and many more at the high school level, and have never had a coach not have his student athletes shake the hands of an opponent after a game. I knew he had to play Fairfield in less than 48 hrs and had St Peters and Kansas, right after that, and just assumed he was upset about the two injuries happening in a game he probably thought would be a blowout. I saw the game as hard fought, by both teams. I assume, as my mother said, he has a different perspective. That’s fine, and if he wanted to convey that to me that’s fine also. What is not fine is his pronouncements to the media that he knew the intentions of our players, and the characterization of the way we play as being “dirty”, without ever having the professionalism of discussing it with me. The fact that it went on for three days after the game is incredulous to me. I’m not sure what he was trying to accomplish, other than justifying his actions.”

Other Notes

As the Patriot League heads into league play this weekend, the Rookie of the Year race looks to be R.J. Evans’ to lose. The Holy Cross guard has been named Rookie of the Week five times, including four of the last five weeks, and leads all freshmen in the league in scoring and steals and is second in rebounding. He figures to continue playing a significant role for the Crusaders the rest of the way.

Santa Clara came to New England for two games and came away with two losses. Both games highlighted issues Kerry Keating has seen with his team all season long: turnovers and defense. The Broncos turned the ball over 39 times in the two games, forced just six Harvard turnovers. They were better at New Hampshire defensively, but the Wildcats were 5-9 from behind the arc in the second half to pull out the win. Their 19 turnovers in the game hurt even more.

“If we don’t turn the ball over, we usually win, and if we do turn the ball over, it makes it very difficult,” said Keating. “That’s indicative of a young team, an inexperienced team that we have right now that needs to understand that little bit better.”

The Broncos are inexperienced in the backcourt, and that’s showing up at both ends of the floor. Perry Petty was a non-factor Sunday, while Kevin Foster continued to show some promise offensively but also some defensive struggles.

The Broncos begin West Coast Conference play with a bang: at Saint Mary’s, home against Gonzaga and at San Diego for their first three games.

Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora didn’t seem overly concerned about his team following Monday night’s 73-50 blowout loss at Northeastern. He gave the sense that his team gets it, understanding that there are plenty of games left and this can be seen as just an aberration.

“The good thing about college basketball, it’s not college football,” said Pecora. “If you lose one game, your season’s not over. You’ve just got to get yourselves right at the right time. I’ve been down this road before, we’ll keep grinding it out, and we’ll fix things.

“I have no doubt that they’ll be able to do it.”

The struggles have been largely with the guards, who still comprise most of the team’s scoring. Charles Jenkins hasn’t been making shots of late, which is also the case with Cornelius Vines. Tony Dennison has seen his minutes take a dip in the last two games after starting the first 11. The bright spot Monday night came from a promising place, as senior point guard Greg Johnson – their only true point guard – showed some good signs.

“I think he did a pretty good job of getting us into our offense tonight and making some plays,” said Pecora.

Who would have imagined that Arkansas would be in the position it’s in right now? When Patrick Beverly left after being declared academically ineligible, the Razorbacks certainly didn’t look like an NCAA Tournament team. But after Tuesday night’s win over a solid Texas team, they’re well-positioned to be just that as SEC play beckons.

And how many thought California would sweep the Arizona schools, albeit at home? Getting back Theo Robertson after he missed all of last season has been a big addition, but Jerome Randle’s play suggests he should be in the discussion for the conference Player of the Year honors when we get to late February and March. He flat-out knows how to play, and not only has he jumped up his scoring, assists and shooting percentages, but he’s also cut down on his turnovers.

Quick Hitters For the New Year

Quick hitters as we start 2009:

Holy Cross continues to be beset by injuries. On Tuesday night, Alex Vander Baan didn’t dress for the second straight game due to his continuing back problems, and at this point the Crusaders are planning to hold him out of remaining non-league games. They are also without Eric Meister for about the same duration. The best news is that they are more optimistic that point guard Pat Doherty may be able to return later in the season, although that’s far from a guarantee that he will.

All the while, freshmen R.J. Evans and Devin Brown continue to carry this team. But Brown isn’t a natural point guard and is having a trial by fire at the position, so the Crusaders are having some serious growing pains to go with the great deal of promise the two are showing. Currently, only Colin Cunningham and Adam May have more assists than turnovers.

While knowing a team is young at times can bring about a feeling that things will get better in time, at some point that reality ceases to have much value as an explanation for some of a team’s struggles. New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion seems to be reaching that point with his team.

“It’s getting a little old,” said the fourth-year head coach recently. “I’m a competitor, I coach hard, I demand a lot. You can’t keep saying that. At some point, we’ve got to figure out how to win these close games. It’s frustrating for everybody. I don’t think we’re a 3-7 team, I think we’re a little better than that, but we are what we are.”

While the Wildcats’ frontcourt has been inconsistent, perhaps the biggest issue has been the point guard spot. Eric Gilchrese has struggled, no doubt in part because his mother just passed away after a long illness. Freshman Russell Graham has shown promise, especially defensively, but he’s still learning the offense.

The Wildcats host Santa Clara on Sunday in the second of two games in the area for the Broncos. The bulk of the Wildcats’ remaining schedule is America East games.

Harvard had to go with a small lineup in its last two games in large part due to injuries and illness. Keith Wright, who hasn’t been very healthy for a lot of the season, missed four games with mono before playing 20 minutes in Wednesday’s loss at William & Mary, and senior Evan Harris has missed the past two games but should return soon. On the plus side, junior Pat Magnarelli, who was injured during early practices and hasn’t played this season, could begin working out soon and rejoin the team at some point during the Ivy League slate.

The Crimson could use some more size for their next game, as Santa Clara comes to town on Friday with star big man John Bryant as the leader of their team.

The latest national prep poll, in which I am a voter, has been released, with a few changes from the preseason one.

1. Patterson School (Lenoir, NC) (20-0)
2. Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, VA) (12-1)
3. Notre Dame Prep (Fitchburg, MA) (14-2)
4. Bridgton Academy (North Bridgton, ME) (11-2)
5. Northfield Mount Hermon (Northfield, MA) (9-1)
6. South Kent School (South Kent, CT) (7-2)
7. Tilton School (Tilton, NH) (10-0)
8. Winchendon School (Winchendon, MA) (6-4)
9. Fork Union Military Academy (Fork Union, VA) (6-3)
10. Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, NH) (7-5)

Also receiving votes:  St. Mark’s School (Southborough, MA), Blair Academy (Blairstown, NJ)

A Surprising End to Siena’s Win over Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – It was a surprising scene to end the game.  That’s the case not only because it happens so rarely, but also because of who was involved.

As the final seconds of Siena’s 83-71 win at Holy Cross ticked off the clock, Siena head coach Fran McCaffery motioned to all five of his players on the floor toward the exit.  At first glance, it might have looked like he was motioning to get the ball across mid-court to avoid a ten-second violation before dribbling out the final seconds, but once the buzzer sounded it was clear that wasn’t the case.  The Saints walked right out of the gym without shaking hands with the Holy Cross players and coaches.

Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard, who did not comment on it after the game, stopped walking towards the bench once the Saints were walking away and looked as dumbfounded as just about everyone else in the gym.  McCaffery, who is well-respected among his peers for far more than just his winning ways as a head coach, made it clear why he did that.  Like everything else in life, it didn’t happen in a vacuum.

“I was upset at how our guys were being fouled,” McCaffery said.  “I’ve got guys bloodied, I’ve got guys with black eyes, I’ve got guys needing stitches.  That’s not how the game’s supposed to be played.”

McCaffery noted that last year’s game in Loudonville was similar to this.  Alex Franklin missed five games with a back injury after the meeting.  Asked if he thought the officiating, which did leave something to be desired, contributed to it, McCaffery said, alluding to Holy Cross, “I think it’s a result of how they play.”

In fact, McCaffery had no real issue with the officials, even though at times he appeared to get a little heated with them, as did Willard.  46 fouls were called in the game, with the Saints whistled for two more than the Crusaders, so the stat sheet alone won’t explain everything.  The Saints made three more free throws (25) than Holy Cross attempted (22).

While any tension that was mounting between the teams wasn’t obvious, anytime a game gets as physical as this one was, things can escalate between the teams.  That led McCaffery to approach getting help from the officials in a different way.

“I said, ‘what do you want me to do now?  What am I supposed to do?’  Because you really don’t want that, you don’t want me to ‘send in a goon’ and all of a sudden there’s a melee,” said McCaffery, who said he had no intention of doing such a thing.  “That’s not what we want.  But I’d like to know what recourse we had.”

The game was the fourth in a home-and-home series between the two schools.  One might first think that this will be it for a while, and the Siena game notes suggest as much since they said that this is the final game of a four-year series.  But a Holy Cross source said that the schools have a six-year series and are scheduled to meet next December in Loudonville for the fifth game.  It is not known how easily the Saints could get out of the final two games if they desire to, although the schools could agree to put off the next meeting by a year or two.

Fairfield Starting to Grow Up as Early MAAC Games Approach

WORCESTER, Mass. – Ed Cooley’s team is growing up, and it hasn’t come at a bad time.

Fairfield enters their next two games, both early MAAC contests, having won three straight games. They look like a team that is getting better each time out, and they certainly did that against a Holy Cross team that had knocked them off the last two years in similar kinds of games. Every time Holy Cross tried to rally, the Stags had answers, largely from Anthony Johnson (career-high 20 points) and floor leader Jonathan Han (18 points, 11 assists). And for good measure, they won on a night where leading scorer Warren Edney had just six points in 16 minutes due to foul trouble.

“We’re defending with a purpose, we’re sharing the ball, and the kids look like they’re having fun out there,” said Cooley.

Johnson, who’s always had the potential for a game like this, saw a difference in the team leading up to the game.

“These are games to look forward to,” said the junior forward. “We’ve lost to them two years in a row, and each year someone has gotten a blow to the face, someone’s gotten hurt. We came here ready to play.”

Clearly, Johnson and Han did, as an inside-outside duo capable of doing big things. Johnson has a solid body and is athletic for his size, and he’s always been capable of getting 15 points and 10 rebounds on average. Right now, he’s averaging over 10 and 7, respectively, while also showing some game-changing potential at nearly three blocked shots per game.

Han, whom Cooley called “The Maestro”, makes this team go. Take him away, and this is a very different team. Johnson said they would like Han to shoot more, but he’s proving adept at making others better and he has plenty of scorers around him. Four Stags scored in double figures on Monday, and four currently average double figures on the season. Han, with 6.6 assists per game, is certainly part of that.

“You get point guard play like that, you look like you can coach,” said Cooley with a smile.

Cooley’s opposite number noticed the difference in part because his team currently lacks that same kind of player, who is on the roster but injured.

“He does some things that sometimes, you scratch your head, but he’s the guy that makes things happen for them,” said Holy Cross head coach Ralph Willard.

The senior backcourt of Han and Herbie Allen together helps them play at a fast pace. Johnson can run the floor, as can Edney and reserves like Yorel Hawkins, and it’s helped the Stags improve offensively all season long. In each of the four prior games leading up to Holy Cross, they had scored more than the previous game. There was only a four-point drop-off in the Holy Cross game, but they shot 56 percent from the field and had 23 assists to 15 turnovers, so it’s not as if the Stags took steps back offensively.

Cooley wants this team to play faster and keep the scoring up. He sees the strides they are making offensively, especially since they have scored over 70 points in the last two games. And with St. Peter’s and Iona coming to Fairfield this weekend, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that the Stags could take a 2-0 MAAC record into the new year.

Besides all the positive signs of this team’s growth, there’s another one that’s seen in the locker room. The Stags aren’t getting content with just a win or two.

“We’re getting more hungry with every win we get,” said Johnson. “That’s a great thing.”

While the coaching staff has to be happy with the way the team is playing now, Cooley won’t even say they might be turning a corner or hitting their stride yet. He’s hoping students come out to support the team for the MAAC home games this weekend, as he feels “we got a quality ballclub.” This is also not the time he wants the team to really hit its stride, no matter how much he wants to win come game time.

“We want to hit our stride in March,” Cooley said. “Right now, we just want to continue to play good basketball.”