Senior Standout Overcomes 2nd Half Foul Trouble to Rally St. Joe’s to Victory
METUCHEN, NJ—Trailing Notre Dame of Lawrenceville after three periods in its 2020 NJSIAA Non-Public A South Quarterfinal, St. Joseph’s boys basketball team was facing the end of its season, and for seniors such as K-Shawn Schulters and Tyree Ford, their storied careers on both the gridiron and the hardcourt for the Falcons appeared to be nearing their end.
Ford, who became the 17th player in St. Joseph’s history to score 1,000 points, led the Falcons to a halftime lead with 9 points over the first 16 minutes of action. However, after Ford made two threes to give Joes a 45-34 lead in the third, he picked up his fourth foul, and the Irish rallied with a 23-7 surge to cap a 27-13 showing in the period for a 57-52 lead.
Needing to get back into the game, 3rd seeded St. Joseph’s began the fourth by putting Ford back into the game despite having four fouls. Ford, who had many ups and downs during the course of the 2019-20 season, and along with the likes of Schulters, Adam Slawinski, Andrew Olden, and Demarcus Shepard, endured two coaching changes during their four years at the school, demonstrated his experience and ability to come up big in the clutch, qualities that still made him a formidable player, with 7 points in the final frame.
Scoring 13 of his 22 points in the second half, Ford netted two jumpers early in the final period, and then converted a huge traditional three point play with under a minute remaining to help secure a 70-63 victory and advance to the semifinal round to take on 2nd seeded Camden Catholic on Monday night. Schulters (16 points), who scored 7 points in the first half, netted 9 more over the final two periods including a turn around jumper midway through the fourth to contribute to the Falcons rally.
Shepard wrapped up the victory by scoring all of his points by making four free throws over the final minute. Mo Johnson, who scored 8 points in the first half, added two more points as well in the fourth to contribute to the 18-6 run by the Falcons for the come from behind victory. Kody Robinson also chipped in with 9 points in the win while Amari Campbell (4 points), Adam Slawinski (3 points), and Ethan Simmon (2 points) rounded out St. Joe’s scoring for the game.
Notre Dame, which surprised 6th seeded Red Bank Catholic (67-50) in the first round, was led in a losing cause by Jason Weber with 17 points. Quentin Autry chipped in with 14 while Leon Jones added 10. Steven Graver (9 points) and Nick Feretic (8 points) combined for 17 points while Mike Jean (3 points) and Christian Hodby (2 points) rounded out the scoring for the Irish. St. Joe’s struggled at the start as Notre Dame jumped out to an 8-2 lead, and led 16-13 after one period as both Jones and Weber scored five points.
However, the Falcons defense, which had several blocked shots in the first half, turned things around with a 21-12 surge over the first 6:13 of the second including an and one by Ford with under two minutes to play in the first half for a 34-28 lead. Joes then scored 5 of the last 7 points of the period including a last second putback by Schulters for a 26-14 showing in the frame for a 39-30 lead. St. Joe’s then opened the 2nd half with two more threes by Ford to make it a 32-18 surge for an 11 point lead with 6:04 remaining in the 3rd.
Over the next 5:38, Notre Dame would score 20 of the next 24 points to take a 54-49 lead before Slawinski got his only points of the game on a three with 26.3 seconds left in the frame. The Irish then answered that trey with one of their own before the period ended for a five point lead heading into the fourth. With their backs to the wall, St. Joe’s, which reclaimed the GMC Red crown, and reached the GMCT semifinals before being dethroned by South Brunswick (88-77) in a double overtime thriller, turned things around in the final period for the win.
Ford and Schulters combined for 10 of the Falcons 17 two point field goals and four of the team’s 7 three pointers in the win. St. Joseph’s had 17 two point field goals, 7 threes, and 15 free throws in the game. Meanwhile, Notre Dame had 21 field goals, three treys, and 12 free throws in the contest. Each team had three players score in double figures, but the Falcons had more players get into the scoring column with 8 versus 7 for the Irish.
St. Joseph’s scored in double figures in all four periods and outscored Notre Dame by a margin of 44-20 in the second and fourth quarters after being outscored 43-27 in the first and third periods. With the victory, St. Joe’s, which had a first round bye, improved to 19-8 overall on the season while Notre Dame, the 11th seeded in the Non-Public A South field, concluded its season at 14-11.