East Meets West in July Doubleheader
by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The call came from St. Anthony’s AD Tom Augello. There would be a JV-varsity doubleheader at the CERC, St.Anthony’s home court near the school in Jersey City. A team from California had been traveling in the area and reached out to Friar coach Bob Hurley for a game. For a late July afternoon, it was an opportunity too good to pass up.
Clovis West High School, a solid program, hails from Fresno, California. Actually, St. Anthony’s and their visitors from 3,000 miles know each other well. “We have been in tournaments with them out West,” St. Anthony’s assistant coach Ben Gamble said. “We’ve faced them on occasion and I’ve always admired what they do and what they run.”
On the officiating, the assignment for this writer was the JV game. Two sixteen-minute halves were played. Over the course of the first eight minutes, Clovis had a slim lead, but soon the defensive pressure began to take its toll. The Clovis guards had a few turnovers that were converted to transition opportunities for St. Anthony’s. At the half it was 21-14 in favor of the hosts.
The second half saw the Friars of St. Anthony’s apply even more pressure. The lead soon grew into the 20-point margin and St. Anthony’s dominated the final half en route to a 57-40 triumph. The varsity game featured two twenty-minute halves with the score wiped clean at halftime. Viewing at courtside, the game afforded an opportunity to chart possessions, something I enjoy doing and have an interest in on the college level.
Over the first four minutes of the game, each team had 11 possessions, after which the score was 4-0 in favor of St. Anthony’s. Obviously the Friars were having trouble getting untracked, but as Bob Hurley often notes, if your offense struggles the defense sees you through. Six of Clovis’ 11 possessions ended with a turnover.
The final four minutes saw the pace a bit slower than the start. The score at that juncture was 40-18 St. Anthony’s. The Friars closed with a 12-8 edge over those last four minutes to take a 52-26 lead into the half. During the final four minutes each team had eight possessions, again attesting to the fact the pace was a bit more settled after the fast start. Still, eight possessions over a four minute stretch turns out to an 80-possession game which is quite uptempo in a 40-minute (college) contest. As noted the score was wiped clean at the half, which gave the teams an opportunity to “start over”. Unfortunately for Clovis, handling that pressure defense wasn’t any easier. St. Anthony’s is deep, quick and with relentless pressure, can wear down talented opponents.
Notes
- St.Anthony had several performers on the JV level stand out. One in particular really caught attention. Madut Bol, Manute’s son, is a 6-8 sophomore. He is thin, though not as thin as his dad, who played in the NBA. As a freshman, the younger Bol spent a good part of the year injured. When he did get in a sub-varsity game he struggled and never appeared comfortable. Against Clovis, Bol showed a nice soft touch around the basket. Despite his thin stature, he battled heftier opponents and was not at all pushed around inside. Bol also showed nice footwork down low. Credit the spring’s activity for his improvement.
“I had him all Spring with me in AAU,” St. Anthony’s assistant Damel Ling said. “He got some good experience, worked hard and really improved a great deal.” The loaded St.Anthony varsity will mean Bol will be on JV. He should get good experience on that level and could be a player to watch during his upperclass years at the school. - St.Anthony was without Miles Beatty, but did have ample guard talent available in Travon Woodall, Jiovanny Fortan, Michael Rosario and Tyshaun Taylor. The aforementioned group are all juniors.
- Speaking of the guards: While their backcourt is talented, the Friar frontcourt also has several players poised to have a solid campaign. Among them are 6-7 junior A.J. Rogers and 6-4 sophomore Andre Tucker. The latter split time between JV and varsity last year and is very effective in the paint.
- Bob Hurley was off to the side observing the varsity contest while assistants Gamble and Ling ran the club.
- Interesting to see the choice of warmup shirts for Clovis West. Among the assortment were Selland Arena (home of the Fresno State Bulldogs), UC-Irvine and Gonzaga, the latter a popular choice with several players sporting the Zags shirt.
- Gracious hosts – St. Anthony’s Bob Hurley and wife Chris provided pizza and soda for both teams on both levels, the scorer’s table personnel, and (thank you) the officials.
- Among those in attendance was veteran prep expert Tom Konchalski.
