St. John’s: Grateful and Unbeaten!

St. John’s (Washington, D.C.) captures the Torrey Pines Vacation Match Nationwide Division title with a hard-fought victory over St. Augustine (San Diego, Calif.) and can return to the East Coast unbeaten heading into 2023. St. John’s has loads of incentive and a tough highway in entrance of it in convention play. FAB 50 title contenders Duncanville (Texas) and Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.) are upset in West Coast event championship video games.

Groups from the Washington Catholic Athletic Convention (WCAC) have been among the many first to check their wares in opposition to high quality groups from across the nation. DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) was nationally recognized within the Seventies for enjoying in high-level tournaments and different groups adopted swimsuit as rankings (each participant and workforce) made highschool basketball’s finest gamers and groups nationwide commodities.

It’s taken as a right that groups can journey the nation to play in vacation occasions, however with dependable airline journey in peril throughout this vacation season, the out-of-area groups taking part on the Torrey Pines Vacation Basic have been greater than grateful to make it and play 4 high quality opponents. For FAB 50 No. 18 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.), making it to Southern California, particularly scenic Del Mar, Calif., was a blessing and having the ability to showcase their high-quality workforce was a deal with for native followers. The Cadets got here to the occasion unbeaten and the lengthy journey again to the nation’s capital was made simpler when St. John’s got here up with essential defensive stops down the stretch to report a 71-65 Nationwide Division title sport victory over native membership St. Augustine (San Diego, Calif.), one of the best workforce from San Diego County.

The competition was within the steadiness with 1:21 to go along with St. John’s main 63-60 when sophomore (2025) guard Pete Newman tried a runner within the lane that was method off beam. However St. John’s ahead Donnie Freeman grabbed the offensive rebound, and in a single movement, banked the ball in whereas being fouled for an enormous standard 3-point play that he transformed. On St. Augustine’s subsequent possession, the Cadets performed nice protection on the perimeter with Saints on the lookout for a top quality shot. Saints ended up with a tricky 3-pointer and the ball went out of bounds on the rebound scrum.

That one possession summed up the Cadets’ general efficiency and their strategy to the sport: good workforce protection and massive photographs on the offensive finish. The stat line of Freeman, a 6-foot-9 junior and one of many higher 2024 ahead prospects within the nation, displayed his dominance and the distinction within the sport in opposition to a smaller membership with equal firepower on the perimeter. Freeman completed with 18 factors, 14 rebounds and a handful of essential blocks when Saints offensive gamers drove the lane or grabbed an offensive rebound. He was named the Nick Herrmann Nationwide Division MVP.

“With the sport on the road like that, I need to make successful performs,” Freeman mentioned. “It comes down to creating successful performs.”

Harvard-bound Malik Mack, a 6-foot-2 2023 level guard, added 19 factors for a St. John’s membership that arrived in San Diego on Christmas Day. Six-foot-2 2024 guard Daquan Davis completed with 16 factors. Davis was named all-tournament and was the main scorer within the Cadets’ four-games.

Jurian Dixon, a 6-foot-4 energy guard and simply the most effective unsigned senior (2023) prospects on the West Coast, completed with 23 factors for St. Augustine (12-3). Jaden Matingou, a 6-foot-2 2023 guard, added 14 factors whereas Arizona Christian-bound 6-foot-5 ahead Derrius Carter-Hollinger did the soiled work on the inside and completed with 13 factors. Dixon and Carter-Hollinger have been all-tourney picks for coach Mike Haupt’s membership.

St. John’s coach Patrick Behan was glad to make the choice to depart a day early for the event and said the toughest a part of the journey out was convincing the Cadets’ dad and mom to depart on Christmas Day night. The workforce’s return journey will clearly be a bit smoother with a event title in tow, however the Cadets’ work has simply begun.

Not solely do they play in historically the hardest convention within the nation, which incorporates present FAB 50 No. 1 Paul VI (Fairfax, Va.), which has misplaced a sport since our final rankings replace on December 12, and 11-0 and No. 23 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), it’s making an attempt to maintain its focus realizing its head coach is coping with one thing a lot greater than a highschool basketball sport.

Behan was recognized with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s illness, in early summer season 2022 at age 34. The information of Behan’s ALS clearly hit the St. John’s and larger DMV basketball neighborhood exhausting. Basketball, and the relationships Behan has solid via the sport, is now a rallying level round his battle with the illness.

On January 3, St. John’s will host the Behan Robust Invitational, a three-game showcase with all proceeds from the occasion going to help Behan in his ALS battle. St. John’s will tackle present FAB 50 No. 3 IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.). Paul VI will tackle Ryken (Leonardtown, Md.) and Jackson-Reed (Washington, D.C.) faces Bullis (Potomac, Md.).

After Friday’s title-game victory in San Diego, Behan defined simply what St. John’s basketball and the gamers on the workforce imply to him whereas he battles ALS.

“I get up with alot of injections, tablets and different issues, however one of the best medication is to be with the fellas within the fitness center,” Behan mentioned. “Successful actually helps.

“So far as the occasion (on the third), it’s superior to be taking part in with packages and coaches I’ve been connected to. They’re nice pals.”

“We need to make it as stress-less as potential for coach, so successful is a part of that,” Freeman mentioned.

St. John’s will head into the Behan Robust Invitational 12-0. Behan’s state of affairs and simply the actual fact the event’s 5 16-team brackets have been capable of be performed with none main hitches places issues in perspective.

For out-of-area groups, simply displaying up and having the ability to play on the Torrey Pines Vacation Basic was an ordeal. Particularly the plight of Nationwide Division comfort champ O’Dea (Seattle, Wash.) deserves point out. The workforce’s flight to the occasion was cancelled. So the Fightin’ Irish took a 20-hour bus experience so they might present up and take part. Alongside the best way, the bus dropped off the workforce at Auburn (Wash.) at The Basic at Damien (an hour and a half north of Torrey Pines Excessive College on Interstate 5). O’Dea arrived half-hour earlier than its first spherical sport with Dougherty Valley (San Ramon, Calif.). After that 70-58 setback, O’Dea reeled off three consecutive wins and was visibly happy to take dwelling the comfort title on Friday afternoon.

St. John’s grow to be the second WCAC membership to win the celebrated nationwide division crown. The primary WCAC membership to win the Vacation Basic title was DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Md.) in 2011 when it took down Windward (Los Angeles). The Stags completed No. 13 within the closing 2011-12 FAB 50. The Cadets superior to the title sport of this event in 2016, falling to Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.) and the recent hand of future NBA guard Jaylen Palms. The next yr, WCAC membership Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) misplaced within the title sport to Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.).

St. John’s superior to this yr’s Vacation Basic title sport with a 73-60 semifinal victory over Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Wash.). The Cadets jumped out to a 34-11 lead after one quarter and have been in management all through. Davis led the best way with 23 factors. It was additionally Behan’s one centesimal profession victory.

Saints superior to the title sport with a 62-58 victory over Dougherty Valley, a membership that simply wouldn’t go away and was a fan favourite all through the occasion. Dougherty Valley had an opportunity to tie with a 3-pointer with below 30 seconds remaining, however San Francisco-bound guard Ryan Beasley couldn’t discover the mark. Dixon led Saints with 23 factors.

Dougherty Valley’s Connor Sevilla, a 6-foot 2023 guard who had a terrific event, completed with 24 factors in a dropping effort. Within the third place sport, Dougherty Valley defeated Eastside Catholic, 75-68, as Beasley had some clutch baskets and completed with 34 factors. In his 4 event video games, the 5-foot-11 Beasley netted 28.5 ppg. Palms netted 180 factors (36 ppg) in 5 event video games in 2016.

At The Basic at Damien in La Verne, Calif., FAB 50 No. 13 Harvard-Westlake took on Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) and its top-rated junior level guard, Dedan Thomas Jr., within the Platinum Division title sport. The Wolverines dropped their first sport of the season, 59-56, to fall to 16-1 to a membership that got here into the title sport with a 7-5 report. Thomas sank two free throws with 9 seconds remaining to ice the sport, whereas backcourt working mate Angelo Kambala, a 6-foot Utah Tech commit, completed with 23 factors and was named The Basic at Damien MVP.

Within the semifinals, Liberty avenged an earlier loss to Rancho Christian (Temecula, Calif.) with a 63-60 victory. The Minutemen misplaced to Rancho Christian, 69-65, at dwelling on the eve of the Tarkanian Basic, the place they completed with a 2-2 mark. Thomas scored 10 of his 20 factors within the fourth interval whereas Kambala contributed 17.

One other FAB 50 title contender, No. 6 Duncanville (Texas), additionally misplaced its first sport of the season on Friday, when the Panthers fell to unranked West Linn (Ore.), 62-50, within the title sport of the Les Schwab Invitational at Liberty Excessive College (Hillsboro, Ore.). Oregon-bound guard Jackson Shelstad scored 30 factors for West Linn after scoring 38 factors in a 86-69 semifinal victory over Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.). Shelstad averaged 33 ppg on the LSI.

Duncanville entered the West Linn sport 15-0 and using a 35-game, on-court successful streak courting again to precisely the identical day (December 30) in 2021 when the Panthers misplaced to Richardson (Texas) within the title sport of the Whataburger Match.

With Paul VI, Duncanville and Harvard-Westlake, amongst others, happening over the vacation event season, who deserves to be FAB No. 1 now?

Ronnie Flores is the nationwide Grassroots editor of Ballislife.com. He will be reached at [email protected]. Don’t overlook to observe him on Twitter: @RonMFlores