Boys Basketball – Non-Public A Final Preview: CBA vs. Pope John

NJSIAA Non-Public A Championship

Pope John XXIII (28-3) vs. Christian Brothers Academy (24-5)

Saturday, March 14, 5 p.m.

At Pine Belt Arena, Toms River

Against a deeper, faster, more athletic St. Augustine team on Tuesday in the South Jersey Non-Public A finals, the Christian Brothers Academy had the ultimate equalizer: shooters.

The Colts won their first sectional title in six years by hitting 13-of-17 three-point attempts against a St. Augustine team that had not lost to a team inside the state all season long. The Hermits won the battle on the glass, the turnover margin and attempted eight more free throws than CBA did, but no advantage was greater than the one CBA owned shooting the ball. As a team, CBA shot 28-for-44 (64 percent) from the field, with senior Jack Laffey (38 points) and junior Pat Andree (28) combining to shoot 21-for-26 from the floor and 11-for-12 from behind the three-point line.

Tall Task

After vanquishing a South Jersey power, CBA will look to topple a North Jersey juggernaut in the midst of its best season ever. Pope John is playing in its first ever Group final Saturday and the Lions are fresh off their first sectional title thanks to a starting five that averages 6-foot-6 in height and has three players 6-8 or taller.

Not only will Pope John be a bigger team than CBA, but the size comes with athleticism as well. Six-foot-9 senior and native of Senegal Moustapha Diagne is heading to Syracuse next season and will be a load for CBA to handle on the glass, particularly with two other 6-8 teammates from overseas. Fellow forward Jeromy Rodriguez also checks in at 6-8 and is a native of the Dominican Republic, while 6-8 Australia native Damien Rance gives Pope John size on the wing.

Although Pope John’s size will stand out prior to the opening whistle, its two domestic guards are also a key part of this year’s success. Senior captain Matt Zignorski is the second-leading scorer on the team and James Scott is the lone junior and is also one of four starters – along with Diagne, Zignorski and Dominguez - to average at least 10 points per game.

When searching for the formula that could potentially beat Pope John, the results that stand out are two of the Lions’ narrow victories. Their three losses came against teams not under the NJSIAA umbrella – St. Edward of Ohio and N.J. prep teams Blair Academy and St. Benedict’s of Newark – but the Lions also went down to the wire to earn one-point wins over Newark Tech and Linden. The common thread between the two is a reputation for athleticism at the guard position, which has been Linden’s calling card all season and has Newark Tech one win away from a second straight trip to the Tournament of Champions.

Rain in the Forecast?

The weather outside won’t matter once the ball is tipped Saturday, but for CBA to counter Pope John’s size and athleticism, the Colts will once again have to rain threes on the offensive end. A 13-for-17 performance is never a reasonable expectation, but in a game that will likely be played at a more deliberate pace than the one St. Augustine tried to play against CBA, the Colts just have to shoot a good percentage again. After Jack Laffey came out on fire on Tuesday, St. Augustine had to turn the pressure up even higher, and it led to more open looks from a CBA team that knows how to pass out of pressure.

On top of the shooting clinic by Laffey and Andree, CBA also got timely buckets from the rest of its starting five and a stellar first-half defensive performance by sixth man Connor Aldridge before he got into foul trouble. Junior Jack McGuire has been the third scorer over the course of the season and has been able to put up 20-plus points when defenses have attempted to take away either Andree or Laffey. Point guard Shaun Belbey has been able to get into the lane, and while the hot shooting of his teammates has made him an assist machine, he also deserves credit for finding the open man.

Where CBA may have to scrap together a solution is on defense, where the Colts have some size and length to battle the Pope John front line, but lack the depth to survive any foul trouble. Andree made a conscious effort to pick his spots when challenging shots against St. Augustine and once he was clear of foul trouble in the final minutes, he came up with two key blocked shots to cap a four-block game.

More than protecting the rim, the Colts will have to prevent second chances as best they can, which was a problem against even St. Augustine. If there is a silver lining to this match-up for CBA, it’s that it will not have to sell out trying to stop a penetrating guard like Hermits junior Sa’eed Nelson and can game-plan toward keeping the big men off the glass and away from the front of the rim.

What to Expect

This game should not likely be played at the frantic pace that the South Jersey Non-Public A game ended up being played at, although that would not necessarily be a bad thing for CBA. The Colts have to have an efficient offensive game to win, so if they can do that over more possessions, it might actually help as long as it is creating quality shots and Pope John isn’t hammering them on the glass.

It’s hard to fathom a team that lost to Rumson-Fair Haven 50-24 in the Shore Conference Tournament championship could then turn around and reach the Tournament of Champions, but this CBA team has been gearing up for playing teams like Pope John all year. The Colts lost a competitive game to Don Bosco early in the season (Pope John beat the Iron Mikes in the sectional semifinals, 61-52) and put their shooting on full display during a Christmas Tournament in Massachusetts, prompting St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley to tell CBA coach Geoff Billet that CBA was “the most efficient offensive team in the state other than maybe Roselle Catholic.”

A lot has happened since that December run for CBA, but it could very well be that the Colts have rediscovered their form against this field of powerhouse teams. Against the Shore Conference, CBA owned a distinct height advantage against almost any opponent, and while exploiting that advantage worked out a vast majority of the time, it’s not really who the Colts are at their best. Just like they showed on Tuesday, CBA is at their best when Andree and Laffey take full advantage of their green light and the opponent is forced to guard the three-point line and open up the lanes on offense.

The match-up against Pope John is not favorable for CBA the way it is not favorable for most teams, but the Colts still have the potential to unleash the great equalizer, one that is hard to overcome even with any and every other advantage going in the other direction. If Pope John can’t cool off Andree and Laffey, the Lions’ landmark season could end in Ocean County and CBA could hoist its first state title since 1995, when its current head coach was its star player.

Prediction: Can lightning strike twice for CBA? That’s never the best bet, but it will be fun to see if it does. Pope John, 63-56.