In recent years, the Chaminade basketball team bludgeoned its opponents in half court sets. With superior size and strength, the Red Devils slowed the tempo, dominated the paint and attacked the offensive glass.
There is no ‘slowing down’ this year’s version.
Jonny Jordan Jr. scored 32 points, Tricy Collins added 15, and the senior guards led a coast-to-coast, lightning quick attack in Chaminade’s 72-54 victory over Vianney Friday in the Metro Catholic Conference opener for both teams at Vianney High.
Chaminade (6-2, 1-0) used a 23-0 second half blitz to pull away and capture its 24th victory in the last 26 meetings with the Griffins.
Trailing 37-31 midway through the third quarter, Chaminade cranked up its full court pressure to another level. Collins intercepted a pass and converted a layup, Jordan launched a full-court pass to Elijah Poniewaz for another easy hoop and the Red Devils were off and running.
“We were able to make their guards uncomfortable and get steals, which led to fast breaks and dunks that gave us energy,” Collins said.
Two breakaway dunks by Oskar Kuzman concluded a 23-0 run in a span of 5:08 that gave the Red Devils a commanding 54-37 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“We tried to take them out of their comfort zone,” Chaminade coach Frank Bennett said. “Kudos to our guys to taking coaching and responding. We took their rhythm away and you could tell in the third quarter they were a little gassed, and at that point, they got a little careless with the basketball, like high schoolers do.”
Collins began the game the same way he began the decisive third quarter run – with anticipatory defense that led to instant offense.
He intercepted passes, escaped for layups and drained a transition three to help Chaminade build a quick lead. Jordan began his huge night midway through the opening quarter. He sank shots from the three-point line, from the mid-range and at the front of the rim, few touching the rim as they softly swished through the net.
Together, the senior duo combined for 14 of the first 16 Chaminade points to help the Red Devils claim a 16-10 lead.
“They’ve been through all the wars,” Bennett said. “When we talked about what we’re going into tonight – MCC conference game, Friday night lights – it’s a ton of fun, and they want to win. They’re playing with a high level of confidence and I just want to let them go – go be seniors and be great for us.”
In the second quarter, Vianney (6-1, 0-1) was the team that was great – specifically, junior Chase Duke. Coming into the game with only two made 3-pointers in five games, Duke caught fire from behind the arc. He scored 13 points in the second quarter alone, including three triples, and Vianney took a 32-24 lead into halftime.
“In the second quarter, you saw the best of us,” Vianney coach Kevin Walsh said. “The third quarter was the worst of us.”
Chaminade’s explosive third quarter was made possible by outstanding man-to-man defense by Jordan against Griffins’ sharpshooter Ben Karsten – who entered the game averaging 25.5 points per game. Jordan serpentined around screens, challenged his shooting hand and held Karsten to eight points over the first 28 minutes of action.
“Honestly, it’s whatever my team needs me to do to win,” Jordan said. “Tonight, I was guarding (Karsten). He’s a really good player, great shooter, and I knew that coming in. I had to lock and trail and had to get out on catches. We did a great job of scouting, and I thought we executed that really well for the first three quarters.”
The Red Devils graduated seven seniors from last season’s Class 6 state finalist team and their two leading scorers transferred. The changes have created opportunities for younger players and increased responsibilities for Jordan and Collins.
“We had to step up, everyone had to step into different roles, and so far, we’ve done a great job adjusting. It hasn’t always been a straight line, but we’re starting to find our footing,” Jordan said.
That line could have veered off-path after a 54-48 loss to McCluer North in the second game of the season, but Chaminade rebounded to win four in a row against out-of-state competition.
“That loss was a tough loss, but we watched film and we’ve gotten a lot a lot better since then,” Collins said.
And that improvement is exemplified by Jordan. The Omaha University commit has more than doubled his scoring average from last season, dropping 36 points against Whitney Young and 32 against Vianney while piling up rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots and guarding the best offensive player on the opposing team.
“My guys are the reason I’m able to succeed this year. They put a lot of confidence in me, and they allow me to be me,” Jordan said.
Collins added, “We lost a lot of talent from last year, and we’re having to do more. As seniors, we’re giving it everything we’ve got.”
For a photo gallery from this game: click on the link below: