Boys Basketball

January 31, 2010

Friars find the right mix

D'Marcus Owens St. Anthony

St. Anthony guard D'Marcus Owens scored six of his seven points in the fourth quarter.

Click Here for photos from DeMatha Catholic at St. Anthony.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

NEWARK – If you’ve had trouble keeping track of all the lineup changes by St. Anthony through the first half of the season, you’re not alone. Outside of guard Elijah Carter and forward Derrick Williams, the rest of the lineup has seemingly been a continuous game of musical chairs with the participants changing by the game.

Last night the Friars seemed to find the right mix as they knocked off DeMatha Catholic 62-60 in the Newark National Invitational at the Prudential Center.

“We’ve been playing 10 guys,” Head coach Bob Hurley said. “We just kept throwing guys in and out until we found a group that gave us a little more stability. We just never quit.”

Matched up against a longer and more athletic opponent, St. Anthony finally found that much-needed stability at the start of the fourth quarter. Trailing 38-37, Carter scored eight points as the Friars went off on a 13-5 run to pull away

Carter, who had been forced to the sidelines with foul trouble in the first half, opened up the stretch with a pair of free throws and would bury a pair of 3-pointers from the corner in a span of 1:50.

“I started going to the basket and getting fouled. I got to the free throw line,” Carter said. “I started to get in a rhythm and I hit some shots.”

The St. Bonaventure-bound senior finished with 15 points, 12 coming in the final quarter.

Reserve point guard D’Marcus Owens added five of his seven points in the fourth. DeMatha Catholic, ranked No. 15 in the USA Today Super 25, had cut the nine-point deficit down to two, but Owens iced the game with a pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds left. The diminutive Owens, who also had four rebounds, played virtually the entire second half, just the latest reminder how the lineup seemingly changes from possession to possession.

“It’s difficult (adapting to the changes), but we have a lot of team chemistry,” Owens said. “We’re all used to each other no matter who is on the court.”

“We play a lot of kids during the season so we’re not in a situation where we’re married to anyone other than Derrick and Elijah,” Hurley said. “Everyone else is going in and out.”

Williams was once again a source of consistency and leadership as the bruising forward scored a game-high 21 points and hauled in eight rebounds to take home Most Valuable Player honors for the Friars.

Williams kept St. Anthony alive in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in the period as the Friars saw their four-point lead at the half vanish in the Stags’ full-court press.

“He brings a lot of intensity and brings everyone together,” Carter said. “I just try to feed off his emotional (energy) on the court.”

Nine different players scored for the Friars as they won their second down-to-the-wire contest in a week. The other was a 49-48 victory over Christian Brothers Academy on Sunday.

As closely-contested as these games have been, that intensity has carried over to practices and the ever-present competitions for minutes.

“We’re pretty deep,” Hurley said. “I think there’s a lot of kids who over the course of these last couple of weeks have made their contributions. The lineup changes and we’re not afraid to play up to 11 guys. If you’re playing better than the guy you’re competing against on that specific night, you’re going to play.”

“We’re all interchangeable,” Carter said. “We’re all guards and we can all play different positions.

“You never know if you’re going to start or not.”

Junior guard Quinn Cook led DeMatha Catholic with five 3-pointers to finish with 21 points and take MVP honors for the Stags. Notre Dame-bound guard Jerian Grant scored 15 points and Indiana-bound Victor Oladipo added 14 points in defeat.

Derrick Williams St. Anthony

Derrick Williams was named the Friars' MVP with 21 points and eight rebounds.

  1 2 3 4 Total
DeMatha Catholic Stag
11
8
19
22
60
St. Anthony Friars
8
15
14
25
62
DeMatha Catholic   St. Anthony
  2s 3s 1s Pts
Quinn Cook
1
5
4
21
James Robinson
1
0
2
4
Jerian Grant
5
1
2
15
Victor Oladipo
3
1
5
14
Mikael Hopkins
2
0
2
6
David Naves
0
0
0
0
Justin Black
0
0
0
0
Jerami Grant
0
0
0
0
Marcellous Bell
0
0
0
0
Chris Frank
0
0
0
0
BeeJay Anya
0
0
0
0
Total
12
7
15
60
 
  2s 3s 1s Pts
Tyquan Goodlett
1
0
3
5
Elijah Carter
1
2
7
15
Lucious Jones
0
0
2
2
Derrick Williams
7
0
7
21
Naje'a Brown
0
0
0
0
D'Marcus Owens
1
0
5
7
Jordan Quick
1
0
2
4
Dytrel Bracey
1
0
0
2
Tyuan Williams
0
0
0
0
Devon Collier
1
0
0
2
Total
14
2
28
62
         
     
DeMatha Catholic: Grant 8 rebounds; Oladipo 5 rebounds; Cook 4 rebounds. St. Anthony: Williams 8 rebounds; Jones 6 rebounds; Carter 4 rebounds; Frink 4 rebounds; Owens 4 rebounds.