Article written by Brother Neal Golden CJ '57, S.C.
The Crusader basketball team rose from the depths – seven losses in a row in December – to the heights – the Division I semifinals. The team improved steadily throughout the season. No better evidence exists than the fact that St. Augustine defeated the Crusaders by 32 points in the Conlin Gym January 11, but the Purple Knights squeaked by in the semifinal by two points. Another proof of improvement is the quarterfinal victory over Holy Cross 60-57 in their gym after losing to the Tigers twice in district play.
Coach Chris Biehl recalled the early part of the season. “As always when football ends, we try to fit the football guys in, and that was a little tougher this year.” Several players had to recover from serious injuries incurred on the gridiron. Two others didn’t maintain their grades to stay eligible. The team hit “rock bottom” when they went to Florida to play in a tournament in Pensacola during the Christmas holidays. They lost all three games – not a good way to prepare for the district season that began just four days later. “At one point, we had a losing record. I felt like we were coming up empty. We tried different starting lineups and different offensive looks.” To make matters worse, the team’s leading scorer, T. J. Small ‘20, suffered a serious knee injury and missed several games during the losing streak. “We weren’t the same team without him on the floor.”
The Crusaders were able to break even in the first round of district play despite playing only two of the six games at home. They suffered a tough loss to Holy Cross at home 56-54 in a game in which the Crusaders led until the final minutes. Then came the upset by Shaw (51-48). The losing streak reached three when the Purple Knights won at home 61-53, but the team competed so much better than in the first round game.
Who could have predicted what followed? A six-game winning streak, including district wins against Jesuit and John Curtis and playoff victories over Rummel and Holy Cross, the latter coming in overtime. “We had a knack for losing games in the last minute and a half. That’s why I was so pleased at Holy Cross. That’s a game where we figured out how to win.” As in the second round game against the Tigers, the Crusaders led for most of the game only to have the Tigers fight back to send the game into overtime. But guards Javier Perez ‘19 and Victor Tomlinson ‘19 went 7-of-8 from the foul line to tally 10 of the team’s 13 points to win 60-57.
A major reason for the improvement was rebounding, especially on the offensive glass. 6’4” Dillon Delatte ‘19, who didn’t play on the varsity until his senior year, and sophomore Grant Delord, also 6’4”, combined with Small to out rebound most of the teams on the schedule, especially down the home stretch. “Dillon was phenomenal for us the entire year. He’s the only boy who played every game. He got better every single game. He was a good rim protector, and he became a better rebounder, scoring the ball inside, then scoring from outside. He blossomed into a really good player. I really wish we had him one more year.”
“To come up two points short in the semifinals was frustrating. We were winning for more than half the game. I would have liked for our seniors to play in the championship game.” With the way the select school playoffs are set up, you know you’ll probably play several teams from your own district again. “We try to save some things for the playoffs to throw at people. I give credit to the boys. Some of the stuff we did against St. Augustine, we put in three or four days prior to our game and they picked it up really well. We played zone a little more than usual but rotated kind of awkwardly. When you rotate the zone, you don’t have control over who’s blocking out who.” So small guards were blocking out St. Augustine’s 6’5” center. “They scored on only one of their first 17 first-half possessions when they weren’t in transition. You’re happy with those numbers. But they’re getting multiple shots because of the rotation of the zone. So it’s like pick your poison, so to speak. We did a good job of forcing them to take shots they didn’t want to take but didn’t do a good job of blocking out. We got away with it in the first half. The second half, they came out and rotated our zone really well. It’s a credit to their coaches.”
The outlook for next year is optimistic. “I’m really excited. We have some good young players. TJ, an all-district player, will be the nucleus of our team. He’s a natural leader. Sophomores Grant DeLord and Brock Ranlett will be back. Jace Patin is a freshman we’re really high on. Our 8th-grade team went 27-3. So we’ll have a handful of 9th-graders next year who’ll play. They have an opportunity to be phenomenal.”
Article written by Brother Neal Golden CJ '57, S.C.
