Defense-first philosophy helps Holy Ghost Prep boys basketball topple MaST Charter (PHOTO GALLERY)
Holy Ghost Prep senior John McCrane (22, left) put the clamps down defensively on MaST Community Charter senior Matt Carter, helping the Firebirds to a 57-24 triumph Dec. 15 on MCC’s home court. (Steve Sherman – 21st-Century Media)
Holy Ghost Prep takes the floor for the first time this year without the services of 6-4 First Team All-BAL forward Jack Coolahan and 6-1 guard Julian Turner.
The good news is that the Firebirds graduated only four seniors from last year’s team. Still, a new season on the court brings a new team and with that a somewhat different approach.
“Last year, we were much more of an offensive-based team. We had a lot of offensive weapons,” said HGP senior Mike McFadden, a returning second team All-BAL starter from last season.
“This year, we still do but we’re based on defense a lot more.”
That strategy was on full display in Ghost’s 67-24 triumph over Bicentennial Athletic League rival MaST Community Charter Thursday afternoon (Dec. 15) on the Panthers’ home court.
After getting off to a slow start offensively, the ‘birds did everything they could to keep MaST Charter off the scoreboard. Jamming the lane, rebounding, guarding the perimeter, getting to every loose ball first, steals – Holy Ghost had it all!
Charged with guarding 6-3 MCC senior Matt Carter, the Panthers’ most dangerous player after averaging 19 points and seven rebounds per game last season, was HGP senior John McCrane. A 6-3 guard himself, McCrane made 3-of-4 free throws in the first quarter on offense and defensively, helped his team limit Carter to a pair of three-pointers in the contest.
“John (McCrane) did a great job stopping number 22 (Matt Carter) on the other team. He’s a really great player,” commented McFadden.
“They really like to come out on offense so we spread things out and really attacked the middle and that was one of the things that really helped us win today.”
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Offensively, McFadden was a big part of the reason why the Firebirds emerged with their season consecutive league win. After notching six of his team’s nine points in the first period, Big Mike, exploded for 11 more points including a 3-pointer in the second, helping to expand a 4-point lead at the end of the first quarter to 15 points at the intermission.
Another strategy Ghost employed in this game was getting to the line early and often. The Firebirds got to the foul line 28 times in the contest with 15 of those free throws coming in the first half.
They did that by attacking the trim on offense. While McFadden hit pair of jumpers in the first period and a 3-ball in the second, most of Ghost’s points came from attacking the basket – driving layups, putback opportunities and 19 made free throws on 28 chances.
“The team that gets to the (foul) line the most usually comes out on top,” added McFadden. “We’re practicing on getting to the basket as much as we can. We can take shots from outside anytime we want but we really have to try to get to the basket and get to the (foul) line.”
The contributions on offense came from all over with 10 of the 13 varsity players reaching the scoring column. While all the starters scored including 20 from McFadden and eight from classmate Aidan Bauer, the ‘birds bench accounted for 21 points in the contest.
Leading the reserve corps for HGP was 6-2 senior guard Joe Calvin who notched eight points on a pair of putback buckets in the second period, along with a bank shot and a fastbreak basket off a feed from big 6-4 forward Ryan Starapoli in the third quarter.
Holy Ghost could well afford to play its backups in the latter parts of this one, especially when it launched a 10-2 scoring run to start the second half. Getting the third period off to a good start were senior Luke McDonald, who opened the second half with a jumper, and Bauer who added a layup off a Panthers’ turnover and a putback basket along with 3-of-4 free throws in the third quarter.
The Firebirds opened their season by splitting a pair of games Dec. 9-10 in the Manheim Township Tipoff Tournament. After winning the season opener, 55-33, Dec. 9 against Elizabethtown, Ghost lost the next day in the championship in a battle with the host team.
The Blue Streaks canned eight straight buckets to open the second half. Leading Manheim Township 25-24 at the break, visiting HGP saw the lead get away as the hosts mounted an 18-7 third-quarter scoring run to take a 10-point lead heading into the final frame. While the ‘birds outpaced the Blue Streaks 28-21 in the fourth quarter they came out on the short side of a 63-60 score.
“It was a tough loss but they just came out really, really strong in the beginning of the third quarter,” explained McFadden.
“It was our first big game so getting all the guys together was tough.
“There was like four minutes left in the game and we were going 100 miles an hour and we were only down five (points).
“We needed to slow the game down a little bit but it was a first-time experience,”
To their credit, Holy Ghost rebounded with a 9-point win over BAL rival Valley Forge Military Academy Tuesday, Dec. 13 at Chapman Gym. Trailing 7-4 after one period, the ‘birds took a 16-13 lead at the half then played steady the rest of the game on their way to a 38-29 triumph over the Trojans.
Aidan Bauer led the way to the first league win of the season with 14 points.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
Holy Ghost Prep 67, MaST Charter 24
(Dec. 15 at MaST Charter)
MaST Charter 5 9 6 4 – 24
Holy Ghost Prep 9 20 18 10 – 57
HOLY GHOST PREP — Greg Sylvester 4, Ryan Staropoli 3, Rittenmeyer 3, Mike McFadden 20, Luke McDonald 2, John McCrane 3, Jack Elliott 2, Joe Calvin 8, Greg Calvin 4, Aidan Bauer 8; TOTALS — 18 19-28 57.
MAST CHARTER — Sean Allendorf 1, Alex Sanchez 2, Greg Weneclawiak 2, Shane Henehan 8, Luke Harrington 2, Matt Carter 9; TOTALS — 9 4-10 24.
