A Fanatic Summation of the Finals of the Tournament of Champions - #1 St. Anthony's vs #3 Plainfield

Plainfield 49
St. Anthony’s 61


St. Anthony’s scored 18 field goals (which included 3 field goals made to Plainfield’s 0 in the last 60 seconds of the game) below the arc while Plainfield scored 12. This gave St. Anthony’s a 12 point advantage. Plainfield and St. Anthony’s both knocked down 3 3-pointers. Plainfield and St. Anthony’s both knocked down their free throws. Both team connected on 13 free throws thus giving the final difference in the total score of 12 points.

Where did the Cardinals loose this game? The Cardinals played exceptional and to beat the #1 team in the nation, exceptional play plus some was needed. The game plan was perfect but 3 main things came to mind. First the Cardinals learned from the first game that Myles Mack could not be left open. Mack scored 16 points against a tough defensive effort by the Cards. Kyle Anderson was very affective in the 1st half where he dropped 15 of his points. The Cardinals adjusted and limited one of the top junior guards in the country to 2 points in the 2nd half. Jordan Quick came up big by nailing a couple of trey’s which may have been the factor for the Friar’s pulling out the victory. But back to the factors that may have caused the Cardinals defeat in Plainfield’s biggest game in school history. 1) Turnovers; All year this may have been the achilles heel of the Cardinals. When turnovers were held below their average, the Cards would win by double digits. When the turnovers were at their average the Cards would still win due to their rebounding dominance. When their turnovers were above their average, the Cardiac Cards would either loose or win the game in a nail biter. Against the Friars the Cards turned the ball over 19 times which was just a little over their season average. Against the Friars this is a no-no. 2) Miss lay-ups; the Cardinals loss a potential 16 points on at least 8 missed put backs. This was extremely devastating considering the final difference of the game was 12 points. 3) Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan injury in the 2nd period; this was a big blow. Dii’Jon performs at his best in the spotlight against great competition. Dii’Jon seemed to be on his way to another excellent performance before his injury reduced him to below 100% healthy for the remainder of the game. Dii’Jon was the efficiency performer of the game against St. Anthony in their previous meeting. With Sekou Harris playing lights out scoring a game high 19 points and earning TOC MVP honors for Plainfield, Justin controlling the boards, and Jahmal Lane playing great off the bench, Dii’Jon would have been the extra push the Cards needed for the victory.

Cardinal Fanatic Efficient 5

1) St. Anthony – Junior Kyle Anderson 6’9” {ER-22}
The most sought after junior in the state and a top 10 junior prospect in the nation played an exceptional game on both ends of the floor. Kyle scored a team high 17 points on 56% shooting from below the arc, hit his only 3-point attempt, had 2 steals, grabbed a team high tying 5 rebounds (Jerome Frink & Lucious Jones also with 5 rebounds), dropped a game high 6 assists, and had 1 rejection.

2) St. Anthony – Senior Myles Mack 5’11” {ER-21}
The Rutgers bound sharp shooter has battled against Plainfield since his freshman year when he was at Paterson Catholic. The Cardinals were able to limit Myles to 1 for 3 from beyond the arc, but the speedy guard was able show what Rutgers will get if he plays the point. Mack had a 5-2 assist to turnover ratio against one of the best defensive units in the Tournament of Champions. Mack also scored 16 points on 50% shooting from below the arc and 83% shooting from the charity line. His defensive effort was impressive also as M&M garnished 4 steals and rejected 1 shot.

3) Plainfield – Junior Justin Sears 6’8” {ER-19}
Justin gave a much better effort against the Friars the 2nd time around. Sears missed his patented double-double effort by 2 rebounds. Sears shot 60% from the floor to score 10 points. Sears also grabbed 8 rebounds, had 1 steal, and dropped 3 assists.

4) St. Anthony – Junior Jerome Frink 6’5” {ER-18}
Jerome is one of two players on the National High School Championship team that produces below the radar. At 6’5”, Frink plays like a man 6’10”. His strength is beyond a normal high school basketball player and Coach Hurley uses it to his full advantage. Frink had the responsibility of fortifying the paint and neutralizing the Cardinals dominance on the boards. With fundamental boxing out and positioning Frink was able to slow the Cards down on the boards and disrupt multiple lay up attempts which may have been the deciding effort for the Friars to win. Frink scored 12 points on 71% shooting from the floor, grabbed a team high tying 5 rebounds, picked up 3 steals, dropped an assist, and rejected 1 shot.

5) St. Anthony – Senior Lucious Jones 6’7” {ER-16}
Lucious was perfect from below the arc and perfect from the free throw line to score 8 points. Lucious is the perfect compliment to Jerome Frink as the two players combined to slow down the triple towers of the Cardinals. Jones continued his Mr. Efficient role by grabbing a team high 5 rebounds, picking up 3 steals, and dropping 1 assist. Lucky Jones only committed 1 turnover for the entire game to finish off an efficient performance. Jones steady defensive play is the reason why the Friars are #1 in the nation. His lock down defense held the #1 player in the nation, Michael Gilchrist of St. Patrick to a season low 7 points.


The efficiency rating is base on points scored, shooting accuracy, foul shooting accuracy, rebounds, assists, steals, defensive intensity, and assist – turnover ratio.