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Prepping for Preps: Father Judge (Pa.)

10/20/2015, 9:02am EDT
By Rich Flanagan

Justin Fleming (above) and Judge picked up their first PCL playoff win in 15 years. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

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The Philadelphia Catholic League has changed quite a bit since Sean Tait’s playing days.

A former player and 1995 graduate of Father Judge, Tait now commands the Crusaders basketball program from the sideline. He says the PCL is still one of the premiere high school basketball leagues in the state, but believes the path to get to a PCL championship is much tougher than when he played.

“I think the path was a little bit easier to get down to the Palestra. The best teams are down there,” said Tait, now in his seventh year at the helm of the Crusaders.  “Every year, the four best teams have been down there. I had a great career at Judge. We played in two leagues, [but now] it’s one league. When you get down to the Palestra, you have to go through [Archbishop] Carroll, Neumann or Roman [Catholic], and [St. Joe’s] Prep and La Salle are very good as well.”

Last season, Tait led the Crusaders to a record of 15-9 (6-7 PCL) and their first postseason victory since 1999, when they defeated Bonner-Prendergast 64-49 in the first round of the PCL playoffs. They were then upended by PIAA Class AAA state champion Neumann-Goretti in the quarterfinals.

Still, Tait believes his team took a major step forward with their first postseason victory in almost 15 years.

“This team is just three years in the making,” Tait said. “Every time we’ve stepped on the floor, we’ve gotten better. We have three guys back who started and were our three top scorers. Maybe we improve our standing and we don’t have to go through a Roman, Neumann or Carroll. If you get down to the Palestra, anything can happen.”

Those three returning starters are junior Marc Rodriguez (10.0 points per game), and seniors Justin Fleming (8.9 ppg) and Quincy Reed (10.4 ppg).

Rodriguez led the team in scoring as a freshman, but didn’t take quite the step forward in that regard that many expected him to as a sophomore. Tait said the playoff game versus Bonner, in which Rodriguez scored a team-high 25 points, was the type of game he “expected from him more times than not last year.”

But Rodriguez, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound combo-guard believes people are not seeing the bigger picture when it comes to his overall game but instead merely focusing on his scoring output.

“Actually, I think I did a whole lot better. All people think about is how many points you scored,” Rodriguez said. “People who do keep stats see the things I do that aren’t seen as closely. I did more stuff that the stat sheet did not keep. I did more that people will not talk about.”

Rodriguez, a solid outside shooter who can also create off the dribble, will be pushed into a different role this year. Along with Reed, Rodriguez will be playing more time at the point guard position with the departure of Will Brazukas, now at Moravian.

Rodriguez, who has been getting looked at by several Division I schools such as Holy Cross and Binghamton, is ready to take on an even bigger role and responsibility this season.

“I feel like my role is to just be a positive leader all year. Just being patient with the new guys, and taking great responsibility to get things done,” Rodriguez said.

Reed is another player who can really shoot the ball and create for himself. Reed played off the ball the last two years, but he’ll be splitting time at point guard with Rodriguez.  Tait said it’s “always good to have a point guard who can make shots” and feels Reed “makes guys better.”  Tait also feels Reed and Rodriguez were “in the same boat” and had “parallel” seasons last year where many felt they did not perform as well as they should have.

Fleming, who has heard from D-II Indiana (Pa.) and D-III Penn State-Harrisburg, will again be the starting small forward for the Crusaders. Like Reed and Rodriguez, he is a good shooter and a player who has shown the ability to put the ball on the floor and create for himself.                                                     

Heading into his senior year, Fleming said “it’s going to be hard” to fill the void left by Brazukas and last year’s starting power forward Pat Mulville, now at Penn-State Harrisburg.

Fleming feels this team can still succeed without having a true low post presence.

“One thing that we know is we’re undersized. [Still,] we can beat opponents who are bigger,” Fleming said, whose brother is a guard for the Holy Family University Tigers. “We’re stronger, and not having a true center, it benefits us. We have aggressive guards who rebound. We have good guys coming off the bench. Everyone does their job.”

Joining Fleming, Rodriguez and Reed in the starting lineup will be Quinn DeNofa and Mackenson Justee. At 6-3, Tait said DeNofa is “athletic and physical” and is “similar to what we got out of Pat Mulville [but with a] better offensive game.”

Justee was the starting center for the Crusaders throughout at the summer, and even though he’s only 6-3, he has long arms and wide shoulders. Tait hopes Justee can help solidify the middle of the defense.

The Crusaders have a number of options coming off the bench. Tait said backup point guard Amir Paul “had a good summer” and should push for minutes this season. Liam Aichroth will push Justee for minutes at center, and Tait said “his best basketball is ahead of him.”

Guard Matt O’Connor is a player Tait said will “definitely be in the rotation” and can “get off the floor and get to the rim.” Described as another good shooter for the Crusaders, he could get a few starts if the team wants to stretch the floor against bigger opponents. Some other names in the mix are Brandon Peters, Mike Power and Rob King. Tait noted that King, the Crusaders' starting quarterback for the football team, will be counted on to “defend the best player on other team.”

The Crusaders open their season on the first weekend of December against Abraham Lincoln. They’ll get to face Archbishop Ryan at home this year which Tait described as the “last, greatest neighborhood rivalry in our league.” They will also matchup against PCL powers PIAA Class AAAA state champion Roman Catholic, Carroll and Neumann as well as another matchup with Bonner.

Tait understands that last season was a big step forward for his program. He believes a win this season over one of the PCL’s top tier programs will continue to move his in the right direction.

“I thought a huge step for us was beating Archbishop Wood [on the road last year.] There was a little span [with] one of those marquee wins. I guess what it’s going to take is one or two of those marquee wins. We were in those games. I’m hoping we can pull those games out with our experience.”


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