St. Joseph’s Faces Different Foe This Time in Quest for 4th Title in 5 Years
JACKSON, NJ–For the fourth time in five years, top ranked and top seeded St. Joseph’s will be going for the Non-Public A South Championship. However, for the first time during this championship reign, the Falcons will be taking on a different opponent. The previous three times that Joes played for and won the Non-Public A South title, it took on Paul VI of Haddonfield. Not this year.
The Eagles, which lost to the Falcons three years in a row, were defeated in the opening round by St. John Vianney, a team the Falcons rolled past in the quarterfinals, 79-46. Instead, St. Joseph’s will be taking on a different foe in St. Augustine’s of Richland and the Cape Atlantic League. The Hermits, who have been coached by long time head coach, Paul Rodio, have been perennial contenders in Non-Public A South, and even in Non-Public B South back in the late 1990s.
Last year, St. Augustine’s was the top seed in the Non-Public A South field, and reached the Championship game, but then lost to CBA of Lincroft. This year, the Hermits avenged that loss. After defeating Bishop Ahr in the opening round (72-35), and then Union Catholic in the quarterfinals (65-52), the Hermits turned in a solid team effort to soundly defeat the Colts in the other semifinal on Monday afternoon, 85-52. Justyn Mutts led the way with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. The Hermits also boast another top talent in Saeed Nelson.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s is coming off perhaps its best performance of the year in a 98-69 victory over Notre Dame. The Falcons played a very fast paced game, especially after Bree Tyree and Tyus Battle put together highlight reel dunks in a wild first quarter (Tyree’s dunk was disallowed due to a charging call.). Notre Dame kept up for a while, and actually pulled within a point at 34-33 late in the second, but Joes went on a 10-0 run before the Irish scored five of the last 7 points of the half to trail 46-39 at the intermission. In the third, Notre Dame continued to hang around as it got within six at 61-55 with 2:13 to go in the frame following a Mike Walley three.
However, the Irish were unable to get any closer than that. Instead they became that jogger on the treadmill when the machine was running to fast. Their legs just gave out. St. Joseph’s continued to play at a very faced pace as they finished the quarter on another 10-0 run before Isaiah Wong connected on a trey for Notre Dame, and then led 73-58 after three. Then, in the fourth, the Falcons outscored the Irish by a margin of 24-11 to win the game going away, 98-69. Tyus Battle, who registered a triple-double of 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, led the charge with his energy and his ability to keep pushing the ball.
The elder battle was running like the Bulls in Pamplona, and Notre Dame just simply got gored. Battle is always something to watch when he has the ball in his hand. In transition, he comes at you with a full head of steam all the time, but on Tuesday night against Notre Dame, he was the Silver Bullet Train roaring down the tracks. He was playing at even higher level than he had played all year. Alanzo Frink continued to become more of a fixture in the offense. He scored the first five points of the game, and was unstoppable again down low as he compiled a double-double of 31 points and 13 rebounds. Branislav Vujadinovic scored in a variety of ways as he turned in one of his highest scoring games of the season with 17 points while Bree Tyree played well despite being under the weather as he chipped in with 12 points, 7 boards, 7 assists, 3 assists, and, a block.
As a team, St. Joseph’s collected 40 rebounds, 23 assists, 12 steals and 7 blocks. The Falcons only had two threes as Notre Dame outscored them by a margin of 27-6 from beyond the arc. The Irish also outscored Joes by an 8-7 margin from the foul line, but the Falcons had a 86-34 in points scored from within the arc. St. Joseph’s had 9 different players score while Notre Dame just had six. If the Falcons play today against St. Augustine’s like they did against Notre Dame, they will be hard to defeat. Can Battle put together back to back games with that kind of energy, and tempo pushing the ball up court? Will Tyree be at 100% after not feeling well Tuesday night. If he is, and if Battle plays like he did on Tuesday, the Hermits will likely be a bridesmaid for the second straight year.
Prediction: St. Joseph’s wins, 80-73.