City of Basketball Love

Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)
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In what’s a completely different environment from what he’s used to, Kyle Jones has found his footing at Father Judge High School. 

The 6-foot-3 junior guard is originally from Georgia, but moved up north for his final two years of high school. Although he’s new to the area, Jones has some family ties to the Philadelphia Catholic League, being cousins with two-time reigning MVP Rahsool Diggins, now a freshman at UConn. Jones decided to team up with one of Diggins’ former coaches, Chris Roantree, who spent eight seasons as an assistant at Archbishop Wood and is now in his first season as head coach of Judge.

Three games into the season, Jones is still trying to get comfortable with the faster pace of play and the competitive environment.

“I thought it was going to be easy when I first came up here, but it’s not,” he said. “The game is a lot faster up here, you’re going to find people who want to battle with you and go at you. Everybody plays hard.” 

Jones showed off his abilities in Judge’s 63-59 win over a scrappy Bensalem team at the Diane Mosco Foundation Shootout on Saturday. The athletic guard can impact the game in many ways, finishing with 12 points against Bensalem, but his ability to pass the ball and make the right decision stood out, dishing out five assists on the night as well. 

“I said it to somebody the other day, he’s one of the better passers I’ve coached,” Roantree said. “His playmaking ability is really good and sometimes he’s too unselfish, but he finds guys.”

Being related to Diggins, who averaged 6.7 assists in the PCL last season, Jones has that same natural feel for the game. Like Diggins, Jones is a floor general who sets the tone for his team and has a high basketball IQ.

“I guess it just runs in the family,” Jones said. “It’s just natural instincts for me, if I see somebody open, then I’m going to get them the ball.” 

Judge (3-0) led Bensalem (2-2) for most of the first half, thanks to a 3-point barrage by Ernest Shelton. Shelton knocked down four 3’s in the first quarter and connected on all five attempts from downtown in the first half. He finished with 19 points overall to lead all scorers. 

Judge was up by five after the first sixteen minutes, but the Owls fought back and led by two heading into the fourth. Bensalem was led by a monster performance from big man Allen Myers who nearly had a triple double.

Myers finished with 14 points, but controlled the glass, getting double-digit rebounds and swatted a total of eight shots. His length at the rim proved to be a problem, especially in the third quarter where he had three rejections, but Judge adjusted in the fourth to limit his impact.

“We took our big out of the game in the fourth and we put a stretch shooter into the game,'' Roantree said, “(Myers) had to step out to the perimeter which opened up our driving lanes a little bit more.”

It was a big day for Roantree as he was back at his old stomping grounds, Archbishop Wood, where he spent eight seasons as an assistant under John Mosco. Roantree won two PCL championships and helped build the program with Mosco into what it is today. 

“It felt different,” Roantree said, “I said to the two ladies working the door that I don’t think I’ve ever walked in the gym this way, and that I usually came in the back through the locker room, but it was good to be back here.”

When Judge fell behind, it was Jones who stepped up and showed his leadership skills and slowed things down for the Crusaders down the stretch. He only scored two points in the fourth quarter, but he got into the lane plenty of times. Jones used the attention and eyes he was getting to his team’s advantage, by being unselfish.

With Jones as the point guard, it’s important for him to be a second coach out on the floor for his team.

“Whatever coach tells me to do, I imitate it on the floor and tell my teammates what to do,” Jones said, “If he wants me to calm the game down and slow it down, I’ll calm the game down; if he wants me to run, I’ll run.”

In the end it was Judge’s defense that proved to be the difference with Tearran Peete coming up with two key blocks late in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders did a much better job of keeping Bensalem out of the lane in the fourth quarter and not letting them get easy looks. 

Roantree knows his team is going to have to be tough and play physical if they want to be successful this season to go along with an underdog mentality. He also knows that his point guard has a target on his back. 

“When he decided to come here, everybody was like ‘you got Kyle Jones, you got Kyle Jones,’” Roantree said, “I think his name’s definitely out there, (he’s) got a name and people want to compete against him.” 

Jones is going to be a big part of determining how good Father Judge will be in Roantree’s first season as the Crusaders’ head coach. Father Judge isn’t typically known for being a force in the Catholic League, but Roantree is trying to change that.

“If you take a job and you don’t want to compete and be the best, I think you’re in the wrong business,” Roantree said. “If you’re just happy to be a coach and be there, you’re going to get beat a lot, but these guys are buying into it with a winning mentality.” 

By Quarter
Father Judge: 16 I 16 I 13 I 18 II 63 

Bensalem:      12 I 15 I 20 I 12 II 59

Scoring

FJ: Ernest Shelton 19, Kyle Jones 12, Jordan Rhinehart 11, Jalen Flowers 6,  Tearran Peete 6, Chris Brennan 5, Mike McCuster 4

B: Aaron Sanders 15, Allen Myers 14, Jeremy Rodriguez 10, Antonio Morris 9, Tra Edwards 6, Jack Wineburg 5