Senior Antonio Rouse drives to the basket in the game's late stages
by Brian Kapur, DCSportsFan. com
Junior guard Marcus Hayes has stepped up his game as three starters are sidelined by injuries
With just 17.3 seconds to go in the game, St. John’s brought the ball up court. The Cadets trailed Bishop Ireton by one and needed just one final bucket to score the go-ahead points.
Enter freshman James Mitchell.
The young guard found the ball in his hands with under 10 seconds to play after collecting a loose ball. He did not hesitate, went up strong and finished with a runner to give St. John’s the lead and four seconds later a 47-46 win.
“I got the ball and was going to the basket looking to create,” Mitchell said. “ But it was open and I just went up and had the confidence in myself to finish.”
It was the Cadets first WCAC win of the season; meanwhile Bishop Ireton fell to 0-3 in conference play and blew an 11-point lead with under four minutes to play in the process.
“We were very fortunate,” St. John’s head coach Paul DeStefano said. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. My hats off to Bishop Ireton, they were missing two starters and they played very well. Their zone gave us a lot of problems.”
Ireton led 44-33 with under four minutes to go. But St. John’s cranked up the pressure on defense, which resulted in turnovers. But it also gave fouls and bonus free throws to Ireton, but the Cardinals could not take advantage. The Cardinals missed their last six free throws.
“The last two or three minutes our pressure allowed us to get some turnovers and steals,” DeStefano said. “They missed some free throws, which made it possible for us. We feel very fortunate.”
The Cadets were led by Julain DeBose who scored 18 points. Meanwhile freshman Darian Anderson added in 11 points. The night’s hero, Mitchell, finished the game with just five points, but the last two proved to be the most critical.
For Ireton the loss was gut churning. Ireton and St. John’s showed each other tough 2-3 zone defensive looks and the Cadets were able to escape the first quarter with a 10-9 lead after a three-point play by Rudy Anderson.
St. John’s would build off it immediately in the second quarter by converting a free throw to take a 11-9 lead. But that would be the only point St. John’s would score in the second quarter.
“That’s been our (problem); we have games where go eight or 10 minutes without scoring,” DeStefano said.
Led by Marcus Hayes, who scored 20 points on the night, Ireton built a 20-11 halftime lead.
“The 2-3 zone defense is our bread and butter,” Ireton head coach Neil Berkman said. “We try to emulate the Syracuse zone. We do a good job of bumping, rotating and chasing guys off the three-point line. We also gang rebound.”
St. John’s came out in the third quarter looking to get back into the game and Mitchell stole the ball and scored quickly to end the Cadet’s scoring drought. But then after a pair of turnovers, Hayes hit a trey for the Cardinals to again balloon the lead to double digits.
St. John’s refused to go away and continued to chip their way back into the game and entered the fourth quarter trailing 34-27.
In the fourth quarter, the Cadets rallied while the Cardinals crumbled as the game reached the final stretch.
“We have to close out games like this at home,” Berkman said. “We were down two starters to begin with and lost another during the game. The team was scrappy and competing hard. Teaching kids how to win is the hardest part. We were 15 of 15 on free throws for most of the game, but missed our last six. We need to move forward and learn from this game.”
The news didn’t get any better on Saturday as the Cardinals, now down three starters with the loss of junior Malcolm Westbrook, hosted a hungry Flint Hill Huskies squad looking for a much needed VISAA win.
As is becoming a trademark of Cardinal basketball, the undermanned hosts played the Oakton visitors tough, but couldn’t come back in the final quarter falling 69-62. Hayes again led the Cardinals in scoring with 25 while Antonio Rouse also contributed 20. Senior Sam Walters came off the bench to snare a Berkman-era high 17 rebounds for the redbirds in the loss.
The Cardinals (8-6, 0-3) host Paul VI Catholic on Tuesday before heading to Bishop O’Connell for a Friday night tilt. Tipoff for both contests is scheduled for 7:30pm.
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