Taking a break from conference play, the men’s basketball team played De Smet, a Jesuit high school from St. Louis, Missouri, on Feb. 12. Ranked thirteenth in their state, the De Smet basketball team traveled to JC over the weekend to challenge Maryland’s ninth-ranked men’s team. JC emerged victorious, 59-42.
According to head coach Tony Martin, JC was supposed to play De Smet in a tournament on the same day in Washington, D.C. This tournament, the East-West Invitational, pits four east coast teams against four west coast teams, but was cancelled due to lack of an NCAA venue.
“[De Smet] has a large alumni base in the DC area and decided to come out anyways. Saturday they had an alumni event and the next day, they played us,” Martin said.
Because the teams knew very little about each other, it was difficult coming into the game with expectations. Sophomore Kamau Stokes, who ended up with 16 points and four assists, knew what JC needed to do to be successful.
“Our expectation was that we had to play physical, just like any other game. We knew they were big and long [in size], so we made them run. That was our strategy,” Stokes said.
With four of their starters 6’4” and taller (their tallest player being 6’11”), De Smet had a serious height advantage, but that did not stop JC from taking the win.
Right off the bat, JC had a 5-0 lead. Multiple JC steals and De Smet turnovers caused JC to have control over the quarter. However, the quarter was low-scoring, as it ended with a JC lead, 15-8.
A missed dunk by junior Rodney Elliott opened the second quarter and De Smet began to gain control over the game. De Smet junior Nolan Berry scored two points with a quick catch-and-release bucket and junior Alec Bausch on the defensive end blocked a JC shot. Junior Christian Owana committed an over-the-back foul, sending De Smet into the one-and-one bonus.
JC quickly retaliated with a made jump-shot by Elliott and a successful fast break resulting in a pass from senior Jarred Jones to Stokes. Freshman Justin Jenifer sunk a big three to continue the rally. All play stopped, however, when a brief scrap between Stokes and De Smet senior Jamie Hudson ensued. Stokes refused to let this affect his game, as he assisted Jenifer’s buzzer-beating three-point shot several feet beyond the three-point line.
At the end of the first half, JC led 27-16.
JC started off the third quarter with a quick two points for Jones, who continued to contribute to the team with a defensive steal. A fast break led to another easy two points for Jones. A combined effort between Elliott, Owana, and Jones resulted in another two points from a put-back after a missed dunk. JC was leading 32-18.
Jenifer hit yet another three and JC’s offensive run continued. Jones added his own successful dunk, bringing JC’s lead to 37-20. A 50-second possession on JC’s offensive end paid off when a lane to the basket opened up, and a layup was easily made. De Smet junior Jimmy Barton answered with a three-pointer of his own to close out the quarter, 41-25.
The fourth quarter opened up with Owana slamming a De Smet shot against the backboard. On the offensive end, Jones finished for an “and one” and made his free throw. The offensive assault continued with a line-drive pass from Jenifer to Stokes for an easy layup. De Smet retaliated with a steal from Barton that led to a dunk by Berry.
With five minutes to go in the game, JC began to run out the clock, keeping the ball away from De Smet’s defense. Once De Smet got the ball back, Berry knocked down a three-point shot. Continuing a small run, Berry pushed forward with a layup to bring the score to 49-35, JC.
De Smet began to foul the JC players with 1:30 left to go in the game, stopping the clock and hoping to get the ball back on a stolen in-bounds pass. A Hudson steal and pass to Berry led to a De Smet dunk and two points. De Smet sophomore Mitch Plassmeyer banked a three-point shot, which caused the score to be 55-40.
In the end, however, De Smet could not make a large enough run to overcome their point deficit. JC finished the game, 59-42, bringing their overall record to 22-6.
“The point of playing the game was to be challenged by an opponent outside of our league, and I was pleased,” Martin said.
The JC men’s team has their IAAM semi-final game against St. Frances at 7:00pm on Feb. 17.
Miranda Ripken is a Sports Editor for The Patiort and jcpatriot.com