PHILADELPHIA – When sophomore guard Kyle Thompson’s potential game tying shot at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and fell to the floor at Kelly Fieldhouse, what had been a good day for coach William “Speedy” Morris downgraded a little as St. Joseph’s Prep lost 58-56 to Father Judge.
Before the game, the Hawks (12-8, 6-5 Philadelphia Catholic League) honored their coach for becoming the first coach in Pennsylvania history to win 300 games at two different schools. During his tenure at Roman Catholic from 1967-1981, Morris won 347 games. His 300th win at the Prep was a 49-43 victory against Salesianum in December.
“That was a surprise, it was nice,” Morris said of the pregame honor. “I’ve had a lot of great players, a lot of great kids over the years. You don’t get milestones without good players, good assistant coaches, very good assistant coaches so I’ve been blessed with both. Right now is not a good time, but I’ll think back over the years. I’ve had a lot of happy memories here. It was nice that I got the presentation from the alumni and that they honored me, but we lost the game and that hurts.”
After Rodriguez and Hawks sophomore guard Darius Kinnel traded a pair of three pointers, the Crusaders took the lead for good when junior guard Mike Power made two free throws on the next possession. Power made two more free throws to give Judge a 52-48 lead with one minute and 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Kinnel made his third three pointer of the game to cut the deficit to 55-54 with 26 seconds left.
Kinnel committed his final foul with 12 seconds left to put Judge junior shooting guard Marc Rodriguez on the free throw line. Rodriguez, who made five of his six free throw attempts in the final minute, split the pair, giving the Hawks one final possession trailing by two.
Sophomore guard Darius Kinnel drives to the basket during the fourth quarter. (Evan Easterling/Philly Sports Digest)
Senior forward Pete Gayhardt goes up for a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound. (Evan Easterling/Philly Sports Digest)
Senior guard Temi Aiyegbusi dribbled to his left towards the foul line, but lost control of his dribble. The Crusaders grabbed at the ball and forced a held ball. The possession arrow favored St. Joe’s, who had two seconds to work with. Morris called timeout and called a play.
“It was a play we call LaSalle and it’s a play where you throw into the post, but they were double-teaming it,” Morris said. “Kyle would come off a triple screen. We ran it successfully. They did a good job defending it.”
The festivities started well for the Prep, which hosted an alumni game and its annual Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser that has raised over $8,000. However, four three pointers and 20 points by Judge senior guard Quincy Reed and 16 points from Rodriguez helped Father Judge (12-8, 5-6) earn the road win.
The Prep is fighting for fourth place in the Catholic League with Conwell-Egan, LaSalle College High School, and Archbishop Ryan, who all entered Sunday 6-4 in the Catholic League. The Hawks finish their season with two road games against Conwell-Egan Feb. 5 and LaSalle Feb. 7.
“We had to win today,” Morris said. “If we won out we would have finished in fourth place and had a home playoff game. Now if we get in we could be in an 8-9 game, if we don’t win the next two. We have two tough games ahead.”
Marc Rodriguez blocks Kyle Thompson's layup attempt in the third quarter. (Evan Easterling/Philly Sports Digest)
St. Joseph's Prep vs. Father Judge
The Hawks honored coach William "Speedy" Morris for becoming the first coach in Pennsylvania to win 300 games at two different schools and honored their seniors before the game Sunday. Photos by Evan Easterling