A Fanatic Summation of the St. Benedict vs Plainfield Game

St. Benedicts won the field goals made comparison by +5. St. Benedicts converted 29 field goals to Plainfield’s 24. The Cardinals were +3 in the 3-point conversion comparison.  Plainfield converted 3 treys to St. Benedicts 0.  Jahmal Lane’s clutch 3-point shooting in the final period helped the Cardinals gain the edge from behind the arc. The Gray Bees also had the advantage in the free-throw comparison.  St. Benedicts made 9 free throws to Plainfield’s 8.  Thus the scoring difference as St. Benedict edge out the Cardinals in a thriller.

Where did the Cardinals loose this game?  It’s the same cry from last year.  If the Cardinals win the edge on the boards, the game is 95% a sure bet the Plainfield will have the “W” at the end of the day.  This was not the case as St. Benedicts reinforced their effort on the boards in the 2^nd half.  The Cardinals controlled the glass early to extend their lead to a game high 7-points.  But St. Benedicts Kamall Richards battled admirably with Justin Sears.  Richards 13 rebounds were big but it was Denzel Taylor’s 7^th rebound of the game that was pivotal.  His rebound and put back tied the game and sent Sears to the bench with his 5^th foul. Tyler Ennis 7^th rebound off of Denzel Taylor’s missed foul shot and put back won the game in final seconds. 

Cardinal Fanatic Efficient 5

1) Plainfield – Senior Justin Sears 6’8” {ER-43}

Dr. Double-Double gave the 2^nd highest Efficiency Rating in 3 years with his performance in a loosing cause.  Sears shot 69% from the floor with his multiple repertoires of moves around the basket to score a team high 21 points.  Sears was also efficient from the foul line shooting 75%.  His 2 free throws with 20 seconds remaining gave the Cards a 2-point lead.  Justin added to his stat line with a game high 15 rebound performance, along with a game high 5 rejections, and 4 assists which was only 2^nd to Ahmid Williams game high 5 assists.  Sears completed an efficient night by only committing 2 turnovers.  Sears was named Hoop Group MVP for the Cardinals.

2) St. Benedicts – Senior Kamall Richards 6’7” {ER-26}

The Pocono Mountain East (PA) transfer was the unheralded hero for the Grey Bees.  His 2^nd half improvement on the boards proves to be the true difference maker in this game.  With Sears and Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan controlling the glass for the Cardinals, Kamall Richards took over the glass in the 2^nd half to grab a team high 13 rebounds.  Richards shot 63% from the floor to score 12 points with most of his points coming down the critical stretch of the game.  Kamall also rejected a team high 2 shots and did not commit a single turnover.  St. Johns, Drexel, Penn State, Bucknell, Pitt, Rhode Island, and St. Joseph are recruiting Kamall.  It must not have been a coincidence that the 2004 consensus National Coach of the year, St. Joseph’s Phil Martelli, was in attendance paying close attention to the Grey Bee star.

3) St. Benedicts – Senior Melvin Johnson 6’3” {ER-25}

Melvin Johnson is another long list of guards out of New York City.  Melvin transferred from Rice (NY), which shut its doors at the end of the previous scholastic year.  A resident of Harlem and headed to the University of Miami, the Cardinal Fanatic knew that Johnson would play a key role for the Grey Bees.  Johnson did just that by earning Hoops Group MVP with his game high 27 points.  Johnson also had 2 steals and 3 assists.  Melvin was very efficient as the guard had a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio.

4) Plainfield – Senior Jahmal Lane 6’4” {ER-20}

Jahmal continues to show consistency with his jump shot.  His 2 fourth period 3-pointers were big for the Cardinals down the final stretch.  Lane shot 67% from the floor below the arc and shot an identical sizzling 67% from behind the arc to score a total of 18 points for the game.  Lane added to his stat line with a game high tying 3 steals (St. Benedicts Denzel Taylor also with 3 steals), 2 assists and 1 rejection.  Lane was also very efficient with the ball as he committed only 2 turnovers for the game.

5) St. Benedicts – Junior Tyler Ennis 6’4” {ER-14}

Tyler Ennis is one of the highest recruited players in the nation.  Ennis has offers from the following schools; Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Rutgers, Oklahoma State, Virginia, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Kansas, Boston College, UNCC, Missouri, North Carolina St., Oregon St., Rice, Santa Clara, Villanova, and Seton Hall. I did not say interest, I said OFFERS!!!! WOW!!! Ennis, who hails from Canada, last second rebound and put back was the difference in the game.  Ennis shot 75% below the arc to score 12 points.  The pro like body point guard also grabbed 7 rebounds, had 2 assists, and 1 rejection.  The point guard only had 2 turnovers to complete a game saving efficient night. 




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