City of Basketball Love

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
––

With Nahseer Johnson (Arcadia)—a 1,000-point scorer, three-year varsity starter and team leader—lost to graduation, Father Judge had a big hole to fill coming into this season. Kyle Jones, who transferred from Georgia and is UConn freshman Rahsool Diggins’ cousin, was a top candidate to fill that vacancy. But in the Crusaders’ first game, it was someone who’s been with the program for three seasons who stepped up.

In Friday's season opener, senior Jalen Flowers took over in the fourth quarter, leading Father Judge to a 72-64 comeback win over Carver Engineering and Science at the CoBL Tip-Off Showcase held at Archbishop Ryan. His presence was felt on both ends of the floor, and his energy in the first couple minutes of the final quarter made the difference.

An 8-0 E&S run provided a 53-45 margin to finish the third. That was before Jalen Flowers happened. Flowers exploded, knocking down a three to start the quarter and didn’t miss for the rest of the game, going 5-of-5 from the field. He outscored E&S in the fourth quarter, 15-11.

“As soon as that first shot hit, I knew it was going to be a good day for me,” Flowers said, “It’s easier to get hot this year because once you get hot, the fans get behind you, but last year with no fans it was quiet, so you couldn’t really get hot.”

Flowers finished with 24 points on the night, while shooting 7-of-11 from the field (3-of-5 3PT) and 7-10 from the free throw line. 

“I’ve said it to everybody that he’s our leader,” first-year head coach Chris Roantree said. “He’s an energy guy who’s always just in the right spot all the time, doing the right things. He wants to win.”

Jones finished with 11 points, while junior Tearran Peete chipped in eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Taimar Stubbs led E&S with 21 points, with fellow senior Denzel Figueroa close behind with 20 points, 13 rebounds and three steals.

It wasn’t just Flowers’ ability to score the ball that won Judge the game, but also his aggressive defense. He was a pest for E&S all night, racking up six steals to help set up easy buckets for his team on the other end. After hitting a three to give Judge the lead in the fourth, Flowers stole the inbounds and scored again to put his team up five a few minutes into the fourth quarter. 

“That’s what I want to be noticed for because too many people underestimate my defense,” Flowers said. “So that’s something I want to stand out for me.”

Along with the steals, Flowers’ willingness to put his body on the line played a big part. He had four fouls, but a lot of that was attributed to him trying to draw charges. 

Playing with Johnson the past couple seasons, Flowers spent a lot of his time off the ball and coming off screens in catch and shoot situations. He averaged 5.2 points per game last season, and, even though he’s looking to be a bigger part of the offense this year, it’s not all about scoring for Flowers. An important part of his development has been having the ball in his hands more and setting up the offense.

“It’s been difficult at times,” Flowers said. “I probably worked out every day this summer, so I think the hard work is paying off.” 

“I think he’s adjusting well to our tempo,” Roantree said. “He’s been three years of Princeton offense, pass cut, be in this spot, be in that spot, whereas now we’re more motion and dribble drive.”

From his time as an assistant at Catholic League rival Archbishop Wood, Roantree knew that Flowers brought a lot to the table for Father Judge.

“I think he had a really good sophomore year and I think people forgot about him.” Roantree said. “He was making shots against us his sophomore year and last year was just a different year with COVID. It made things weird” 

Flowers wants to make a name for himself this season to help his new coach. Roantree is going to have his hands full in the Catholic League, where the competition is tough. After eight years as John Mosco’s assistant and two Catholic League championships at Archbishop Wood, Roantree knows what it takes and feels Flowers will be a big part of the team's underdog mentality this season.

“We’re going to have to play hard,” Roantree said. “We talk about it every day. We have four principles and ‘compete’ is our biggest principle. We have to have the underdog mentality because we are the underdog.

“Tonight, the ball wasn’t going in, but we guarded and made plays in the fourth quarter, which was important.”