La Salle makes statement with win over Father Judge
SPRINGFIELD >> Head coach Joe Dempsey doesn’t know where his La Salle basketball team stands as the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs approach, but he was a happy camper Friday night after the Explorers turned tiger in the fourth quarter to stop Father Judge, 51-43.
Jarrod Stukes had 16 points and Sean Simon added 11, including a 6-for-6 performance from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter as the Explorers overcame a sluggish showing to one-up their guests.
“Judge is a team that has beaten the Prep, they’ve beaten a few good teams, so this is a big win for us,” Dempsey said in a noisy locker room. “This was certainly one of our best games this year.”
The first half was played at a snail’s pace as the Explorers tried to negate Judge’s defense and the Crusaders looked for the 3-ball.
Jarrod Stukes’ five points gave La Salle a 10-6 lead after one quarter, but Judge’s Nick Conway had five points in the half’s final 40 seconds to give the visitors an 18-17 lead at the break.
Mike Power had four points to go along with Conway’s five as the visitors hung around.
But La Salle wouldn’t go away either, and it was a one-point game after three quarters.
The third quarter stayed close and the Explorers went into the final stanza down by a point.
Drew Riley’s pair of threes kept Judge in front, but the Explorers hung around, mostly on the strength of Stukes’ five-point quarter and the long-distance shooting of Matt McMahon, who would finish the game with a trio of treys.
Things even got a little testy in the second half when Judge’s Mike Power squared off with Simon and both sides jumped into a near melee.
“I felt we played a strong game defensively,” Dempsey said. “We were able to hold Rodriguez in check, and we kept them confused on offense.”
“Judge came into this game thinking they could run us over, so we had to control the pace.”
The Explorers did that by continually walking the ball up the floor, and making the Crusaders play defense for long stretches of play.
Stukes revved it up in the fourth quarter, with his key play being an inbounds play in which he threw the ball off the backside of a Judge defender, scooped up the ball and deposited a layup that give La Salle a four-point lead.
From there, the Explorers slowly but surely put the game away, with Simon going perfect from the charity stripe and Stukes making three field goals to keep the Crusaders at bay.
“We had some kids make some plays, and they guys stuck to the game plan,” Dempsey beamed. “We were trying to stay under control, but we let Jarrod do a little extra, and it paid off for us.
“I don’t know where this put us in the playoffs, but we’re happy with our effort and we’re happy with the result.”
La Salle 51, Father Judge 43
Father Judge 6 12 13 12 – 43
La Salle 10 7 13 21 – 51
Father Judge: Mike Power 1 2-2 4; Mark Rodriguez 2 5-6 10; Matt O’Connor 4 0-0 9; Nick Conway 2 0-0 5; Drew Riley 2 0-0 6; Shane Dooley 2 1-1 5; Tom Quarry 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 8-9 43.
La Salle: Allen Powell 0 1-2 1; Jarrod Stukes 6 2-2 16; Matt Paulus 1 2-2 4; Zach Crisler 2 0-0 4; Sean Simon 2 9-9 11; Matt McMahon 3 0-0 9;.Jack Rothenberg 1 2-2 4; Dan Solecki 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 16-17 51
3-pointers: Riley 2; Rodriguez; O’Connor; Conway; Stukes 2; McMahon 3.
Top Photo: La Salles Jarrod Stukes drives to the basket as Father Judges Tom Quarry defends during their game on Friday, February 10, 2017. (Gene Walsh/Digital First Media)
