The plan was to set the tone, quickly, emphatically, and without remedy.
The plan alone would not do, however.
It’s action that counts, St. Christopher’s basketball coach Hamill Jones preached over and over to his guys, and executing that plan both on offense and defense was the best way for them to fend off the fire and brimstone that Collegiate would no doubt bring to Scott Gymnasium on Friday night for the second of two annual home-and-away regular season rivalry games between the longtime Prep League signatories.
“This game is such a special game,” Jones said as he stood in the hallway outside the Saints’ team room following their 72-47 Senior Night victory.
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“Great competitors. Hard fought. Mutual respect. There was no doubt that Collegiate would play really hard. Our guys wanted to maximize their effort and came out playing really hard too.”
VCU basketball draws commitment from St. Christopher's guard, Richmond native Brandon Jennings
A mere 14 seconds after VCU commit Brandon Jennings won the opening tap, the 6-4 senior struck from behind the arc just to the left of the top of the key.
“The 3 definitely brought energy to our team and our crowd,” Jennings said. “It helped us all the way throughout.”
A minute later, he struck again from the same spot to put the Saints up 8-4 and ignite a 12-3 run that propelled them to a 20-7 lead after a quarter.
“Brandon is such a special player,” said Jones, whose squad is ranked fourth in The Times-Dispatch Top 10. “He impacts the game in so many says. Scoring, yes, but with his defense, his passing, his composure as well.”
Former JMU, Maryland basketball coach Lefty Driesell dead at 92
Fueled by heightened defensive intensity and 3-pointers a minute apart by Frank MacNelly and Randolph Campbell, the Cougars rallied in the second quarter and cut their deficit to 25-17 when MacNelly drove into the lane and connected on an 8-foot jumper in heavy traffic 3:03 before halftime.
Jennings, resolute, intense, and supremely poised, responded with his third 3-pointer, this one from deep on the right wing. Then, he secured an offensive rebound and dropped in a soft jumper from the paint at 1:33 to put the Saints up 30-17 en route to a 32-21 halftime lead.
On the Cougars’ first second-half possession, Xay Davis drove, drew a foul, and hit both free throws to cut their deficit to 32-23 at 7:44.
Despite Collegiate’s best effort out of their own man-to-man, Jennings’s jumper followed by three consecutive close-range buckets by 6-4, 285-pound sophom*ore Darius Gray, then a 3-ball by Eb Brandon extended the Saints’ lead to 43-25 at 4:40.
Undaunted, the Cougars rallied once again, this time with a 9-0 burst that included two 3-pointers and a sweet drop-in off an inside move by Campbell and a free throw by Davis, and with two minutes left cut what had been a 20-point deficit to 11.
The Saints’ 11-0 run (two layups by Jennings followed by a 3-pointer and two chip-shot buckets by Stuart Cosby) put them ahead 58-36 entering the fourth.
“They were going on a run,” Jennings said. “They were hitting some tough 3’s. We weren’t able to score on offense. I was able to get in the paint and operate through my driving.”
Jennings, who averages 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists per game, finished with 25 points, nine boards, three assists, and two blocks. Offensively, he’s comfortable shooting from the perimeter, adroitly driving from any angle when he perceives a seam in the defense, mixing it up in the paint, or locking down the player he’s guarding.
“Evolving your game is important, just making sure you’re always an asset,” he said. “When your shot’s not falling, being able to slash and playing defense even when the ball isn’t going in the rim.”
When St. Christopher’s and Collegiate meet, the atmosphere is invariably emotionally charged. The site notwithstanding, the crowd is high-decibel, passionate, and standing room only. The respective partisan student sections duel from tip-off to final horn. Relentless, take-no-prisoners defense, baseline-to-baseline passion and intensity, and a full ration of highlight-reel offensive plays characterize this throw-the-record-book-out-the-window event.
With tension palpable and every eye upon them, how can players possibly function in a sport with little margin for error?
“It’s really just exciting,” Sonny Bridges, the Saints’ 5-11 junior point guard, said. “It really goes into the brotherhood of the school because we bring our students out for mostly every game. It’s a good environment. Coach prepares us well.
“Tonight, we had to lock down. ...We had to contest the 3. Make them be a dribbler. ... We knew what we had to do to win.”
Collegiate 7 14 15 11 – 47 St. Christopher’s 20 12 26 14 – 72
Collegiate (13-13) – Gregory 0, Campbell 13, MacNelly 9, Hepp 0, B. Anderson 0, Aboud 3, Odom 9, Simonton 0, Hershey 0, Pace 0, Hayes 0, Davis 11, Gross 0, C. Anderson 2. Totals: 18 6-14 47
St. Christopher’s (21-6) – Bridges 11, Jennings 25, Cosby 8, Welch 2, Demm 0, Brandon 3, Jones 3, Davila 0, Campbell 2, Lupica 0, Roberts 0, Gray 16, Burnette 0 Bourne 0, Hilbert 0, Suskind 2, Miller 0. Totals: 29 8-11 72.
3-point goals: Collegiate – Campbell 3, MacNelly, Aboud. St. Christopher’s – Jennings 3, Cosby 2, Brandon.
STCHRIS gamebug
NO. 4 ST. CHRISTOPHER'S 72,
COLLEGIATE 47
Boys high school
basketball (Friday)
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