St. Joe's is headed for number one...after beating them

To be the best, you have to beat the best.  In one week, St. Joe's beat Aquinas, the number one school in Section V, and then last night beat WNY's top ranked school, Canisius.  The Crusaders entered the game with nine of the ten first place votes, with Joe's receiving the other.  We haven't had a unanimous number one in the large school poll yet this season.  That may change this weekend.

 

 

The Marauders used an active zone defense, a balanced scoring attack, and a strong fourth quarter run to defeat Canisius, 78-72, before a sold out and wildly energetic rivalry crowd at St. Joe's.  On the same night, second ranked Niagara Falls was upset at home by Kenmore West, paving the way for the third ranked Marauders to make an unobstructed move to the top ranking in WNY.

 

For three quarters, the finest rivalry in WNY was an epic battle that went back and forth.  After an exciting first quarter that saw eight lead changes and two ties, St. Joe's used a 10-0 run to take a 21-12 lead in the second.  The Marauders never trailed in the second quarter and led by eight in the final minute of the half, but the Crusaders scored the last five points of the half to cut it to 30-27 at the break.

 

Matt MacDonald drilled a '3' at the 5:15 mark of the third to put Canisius back in front.  The lead would change five more times during the quarter, before heading to the final stanza with St. Joe's clinging to a 49-48 lead.

 

After spending considerable time on the bench in foul trouble, Reggie Agbeko spurred a 15-4 St. Joe's run to start the fourth quarter, that would put the game away.  Agbeko scored eight of his 10 fourth quarter points during the decisive run, and grabbed several key rebounds along the way.  With just over three minutes to play, the Marauders had a 66-53 lead.  Leading by nine in final seconds, Aaron White hit an uncontested 3-pointer at the buzzer.

 

Louis Oliveri had a great game, connecting on six of 11 from the field and eight of 11 from the free throw line.  He led five Marauders in double figures, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds.   Jordan Glover scored 13 points with six assists, Agbeko had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Morris scored 12 points and pulled down five boards, and Daniel Maher posted 11 points.

 

Adam Weir scored a game-high 22 points in the loss, 11 of which came in the game's final three minutes.  Matt Hart added 19 points for the Crusaders.

 

Canisius travels to Rochester East tonight to face the Orientals at 8:30 pm, while St. Joe's is back in action on Monday night, hosting Bishop Timon/St. Jude at 7 pm.

 

-centercourt

Comments

[PJB]

Atmosphere was electric in the cozy confines on Kenmore Ave. There isn't an atmosphere in WNY that can match that rivalry on that floor.

St Joes played excellent defense, outplayed Canisius in every aspect of the game. Oliveri had a great game, gave them offense when RA was out with foul trouble, was one of many St Joes "complimentary"players to come up big. SJ limited turnovers, forcing Canisius to run half court offense, where the small confines of the SJCI court did not enable them to find space for their perimeter shooters. Hart was the only one of the big four to make significant contribution until fourth quarter when Weir came alive. Canisius bigs had a ton of looks early down low and were unable to convert.

Most surprising part is that they did it without RA playing much of the game
because of foul trouble and terrible free-throw shooting.

Can't wait for the rematch I'm sure the intensity will be palatible.

[PJB]

KW over Niag Falls and Timon over BK.

After some lean fridays over the last couple weeks, this was a night filled with some interesting games

[Panthers]

To MIG, all your Aliases, and Canisius pretenders>>> St. Joes 78 and Canisius 72!! Guess you can't play top competition and keep losing games to build a record on this shaky ground. How is that possible? I thought Joes was due to lose by 30 points. And it was done mostly with Agbeko on the bench after the refs you paid to control the game were bent on fouling him out to give Canisius a chance.

My prediction,"let the kid play the whole game at Canisius" in February and I guarantee the loss is of epic proportions. You let Aquinas Valenti play the whole game while manhandling Reggie but at least you let them play to the end. This game was an orchestrated effort to get Reggie out. You got your wish but what you did not figure on was that you could still be beat soundly by great team basketball that can control the glass and shoot the heck out of the ball. At least man up and do it fairly on the court. You have no answers for that man on the court. You know it, they know it, now the whole area knows it.

Still sucking on that crow? Just goes to prove that your so-called basketball IQ is as limited as your ability to understand real basketball. I am surprised you did not dress Stan up in Canisius uniform to steal this one. Match--Point--You have been served! Best to stay quiet on your fake-not likely-convenient-weekend outing. You are so predictable!

[McShea is God]

Hey listen I don't think Jamestown will b a UNANIMOUS #1...I am sure Joe's will get some votes so don't get 2 crazy CC.

Was cool 2 follow Keith's Tweets from lovely Naples. I am glad I get so many people so worked up! So Joe's beat Canisius at home big deal they r supposed 2 beat them at home! Home wins by less than 10 r not huge. But Joe's will go to #2 ahead of Canisius until they play again, unles they lose 2 Timon.

Was shocked K West beat Falls. But, since Falls beat them by way more AT West u just can't pretend that game didn't happen. Falls still stays ahead of them.

Congrats 2 Coach Drake and Jamestown on moving to #1 in Tuesday's poll :)

[McShea is God]

Panthers I just read your post! An entire post about ME! I LOVE IT! HA! The fact that I can get u so worked up is awesome.

Did I read it right? U r blaming the refs 4 Reggie only having 12 points at home against a team with no big men? Stan is still WAY better than Reggie! Stan is the man!

Listen since I hear u spend day/nite trying 2 put up my Twitter page 2 'out' my 'real' name I assume u have my facebook page on your hot-list as well. Maybe c the pictures of me and my son in the Gulf yesterday since I have 2 prove 2 u I am in Naples unless I maybe put that water behind me just 2 impress u? Look buddy I hope u have a wife or kids or something besides me 2 obsess over. Get a job and maybe save some money so u can take trips down here in the Winter? Ha! Anyway enjoy your win, it must have been Tebow's will.

[Panthers]

MIG....Blah..Blah..Blah

Hoist it anyway you choose to. Game one is done. Now to game 2 at Canisius to take that one in front of your boys. Be there for that one though so you can at least acknowledge your lack of brain power in what you spew on these blogs. Is that crow warm or cold now? Stan can't help you out of this one or any of your mindless splatterings. RA does not need to prove anything against Stan, he just needs to pound on Canisius against your paid refs. If the same refs are at that game it will prove my point. Once again man up for your next beatdown. At least real Canisius faithfuls know they met the better team tonight. You on the other hand with your head in the sand never make any sense which again proves my point. Bet you don't even know who plays for Canisius anyway! Then you could answer your own questions for such a know-it-all as you are.

[Panthers]

It is about time we have a #1 that can actually win the big games that matter. No excuses, you either bring it or it gets taken away. Way to go Joes! Plus your winning record is the best amongst large schools which is now a factor since it was not before. Still trying to grasp the fuzzy logic from before.

[WT716]

Who were those scrubs who officiated the Joes Canisius game? Even the JV refs were brutal. I think I have watched enough HS ball to know which officials are the best. The technical on Aaron White was bad. As a CHS alum, I am even arguing for Joes when he called a Joes player out of bounds even though there was three inches between the back of his shoes and the out of bounds line. But like they all say you can't blame the refs for your losses. The Canisius big men were almost as bad as the refs. How many wide open lay ups did they blow? I hope whoever runs the officiating in WNY does a better job assigning refs, and let them know that this is Canisius vs Joes. Let the kids play!

[centercourt]

I have to disagree about the technical on White. The ref was standing right there waiting to hand Morris the ball for an inbound at the baseline and White shoved him. He practically reached over the ref to do it. It wasn't a hard shove, but it's the type of thing that can escalate very quickly. Something like that should be a technical, without exception, everytime. Joe's missed the free throws.

[jackherlan]

The referees are chosen by computer. I do not know all the ins and outs but obviously it is not a perfect system.

[Division1]

Agree with CC on the tech. Ref had to get game back under control, especially with the energy in that atmosphere. In reference to the refs, officiating crew definitely upstaged the game. Did not let the kids play. But in fairness to the refs, the thinner of the 2 refs appeared to be doing a solid job based on angles he had to make calls. The heavier, dark haired ref should not be allowed to do varsity games. Definitely not an impartial decision maker. Took everything away from atmosphere. Easily best high school rivalry in wny

[TML1000]

This poll is really going to be crazy...there are going to be a ton of varying opinions, largely on whether to gauge more on body of work or on recent form.

I tend to have recent form hold more weight, which I feel is the purpose of the polls. I'd have to give #1 to Joe's...two outstanding home wins over two teams who, going into this week, were ranked #1 in their respective sections. They have Timon twice and Canisius again, so it is up to them to defend their ranking, but at this point, they've earned the top spot. Jamestown should be #2, they have rolled through ECIC I competition and put up a solid showing in the winter break tourney out of the area. They are still somewhat of an unknown commodity to me, and probably many others, but we all know they can shoot and are very well coached.

Canisius I will only move down to three. Body of work has to come into play somewhat and they have one of the best resumes in WNY, even with this loss. I would put Timon at #4...after a home loss to Mary's they bounced back in a big way over one of the best teams in Sect. V/VI up to this point in BK. Looks like Obokoh didn't play again, but BK is still loaded and to beat them by 11 and control the entire game is a great effort.

At five I'll have KW just ahead of the Falls. Yes, I know Falls embarrassed West on their home floor, but that was five weeks ago and West clearly is a different team currently, at least they were last night. I was hesitant to put them ahead of the Falls, even with beating them last night, but what really made the decision for me was the way the Falls looked, especially in crunch time. They were uncharacteristically ragged and sloppy with the ball. Bailey simply took over in the fourth quarter and Falls really didn't have an answer, which is rare for a Falls team. So, right now, I'd give West a slight edge. If they played 10 times, Falls would probably win 7, but they lost last night and didn't look so good.

I suppose that would leave McKinley to #7, even though they deserve to be higher, the lack of game play recently hasn't given us much to work with of late. I've said they're underrated and know I am under rating them myself. With two wins in league play this week over Riverside and Tech, they would move back up. I would have Riverside, Wil East and Tech in that order to round out the top 10.

[Ricky]

Who do we like for WNY player of the year up to date?

I have to assume Agbeko, Stan Weir, and Taplin are the 3 front runners?

[guest]

Taplin doesn't even belong in the conversation and Stan's team lost to Pioneer last night!

[Ricky]

^So you're saying Agbeko? Any whoelse is in the conversation?

[TML1000]

If Bailey keeps playing like he did last night, he has to get some first team consideration. Campion from Jtown also should be in the first team mix.

[Dark LMT]

In terms what he means to his team, Bailey should get consideration for 1st team All-WNY. With Campbell in foul trouble both against Lockport and the Falls, Bailey led West to victory in both games. He may not get the hype of future Division I players like Weir and Taplin but he is up there with the best in WNY.

[Ricky]

^ and Agbeko, he'll go D1. But im not talking 1st team all WNY, I'm talking WNY player of year. Is agbeko the clear cut leader right now?

[WT716]

So Joes beats an Aquinas team without Jarron Jones, and Timon beats a BK team without 6'9'' junior Obokoh Chinoso. Canisius still deserves some love at the number 1 spot.

[Ricky]

^Are you completely missing the point that Joes just beat Canisius?

[Guest]

And joes beat AQ w/o starter Jaylen Morris as well... Every team suffers injuries at some point that's why it's a team.

[Panthers]

We have to get away from trying to lessen the defeat of these teams. Joes did not have Jalen Morris, the starting shooting guard, in the line up against Aquinas due to medical clearance so that cancels the Jones excuse. Were not all Canisius guys in good condition and all there last night? Jalen played first game since return to lineup against CHS. So what are we talking about here? Is this not a team game. Stop making excuses for their losses.

Agbeko as POY is up to the powers that be. If he makes 1st team it will be up to them and if he gets POY will be determined by how far he can carry Joes.

Personally I feel that he will deserve it when the dust settles since he is the only returning starter from last years team and everyone on that squad has been promoted from JV other than Briggs. Their record stands by itself amongst all the top large schools at 15 Wins 2 losses I believe.

That is an incredibile testament on this kid and his unselfish team play. You cannot say that about Timon or Canisius. Literally some 3 years together thus far compared to 3-4 months for Joes guys playing together. These boys were left for dead at the beginning of the season but as you can now see they were always in the hunt. Just needed time to play together.

As for D1 projections, he has more options than anyone graduating this year. Agbeko has a ridiculous upside that even local schools like Niagara, Canisius, and UB missed until the offers from outside schools started to come in. Him bringing the ball up against the press of Canisius last night I am sure surprised many in the crowd to see a guy his size with a sick handle. Should he stay locally it will be great to watch him at the next level. I am sure his family would like to see him nearby.

[Ricky]

^His uncle(the man he lives with) attends every game,but I think they have better options than UB. I mean the kids upside is incredible, it's only his 2nd year of playing on wooden floors. I could see him attend St. Bona, A-10 is pretty big. Heck, maybe he'll become the next Nicholson for Bona.

[Ricky]

Another thing. Can you imagine this SJCI team if they still had Dzewitz, Jayson Moore, and if Chad Kelly played? A starting 5 of Moore, Dzewitz, Briggs, Kelly, and Agbeko with Glover, Morris, Maher, Cerza, and Hall coming off the bench. WOW, would that team be incredible.

[TML1000]

East High of Rochester beat Canisius 87-75 tonight...East is a very good team that can definitely win AA in section V.

[James J]

East is the best AA team in Section 5. If you lived here you would see it. Aquanis is way over rated.

Also why the Jamestown-Joe's talk for your #1 team? What about Timon? Last I checked they haven't lost to one local large school and beat Bishop Kearney which is the best team in Section 5 period. I am pretty sure they crused Joe's and Canisius.

Anyway should be fun at the Regionals this year.

[TML1000]

Timon would have been getting #1 talk but they lost to St. Mary's in the mid week...Mary's is solid but they lost to both Joe's and Canisius, albeit both in close games...but Timon losing to them at home puts them out of the convo at least this week. Timon has Joe's and Canisius this week.

I would say BK is the best team in section V when CO is on the floor...I guess he hasn't played in a while...he didn't against Timon, not an excuse, just saying AQ beat them even though BK had the game won, while Joe's just beat AQ.

Regionals will probably be 3-2 in favor of section V...whoever gets out of AA in V should be a favorite and assuming BK gets out of A they should also be a fav...Olean and OTC will probably be favs in B and C if they survive...not sure about the D teams but V has four ranked in the top 20 to VI's one.

[TML1000]

Also...you're half right...BK cruised past Joe's, but has not played Canisius yet.

[Lucky13]

McQuaid handed East their 1st loss of the season 53-39 on 1/20.

The Democrat and Chronicle reported that Chinonso Obokoh returned to practice on 1/17 and played in at least one game at a tournament in West Virginia the weekend before the Timon game and scored 15 pts. They had a week of practice and no games leading to Timon so he must have either aggravated his foot injury in practice or they just wanted to rest him. He was in street clothes. I was hoping to see him play in that game.

Ironically, #5 Antoine Anderson injured his foot or ankle in the 3rd qtr. or possibly at beginning of 4th.(I don't remember exactly now) It looked pretty severe,though. He went off and tried to come back after few minutes but went off again and did not return.

Bryant also turned his ankle in the 4th and was limping around till end of game when the starters got pulled but his did not seem as bad. They both walked off after the game limping, so Kearney might have more injury issues before Aquinas game.

I'm not suggesting that the injuries took anything from Timon's win, though. They were outplaying them and pulling away even before Anderson left. Timon's shooting was excellent in this game. They weren't missing in 2nd half. They were like St. Mary's in the game against them.

The Timon student section had great fun at Kearney's expense and some of the Kearney players seemed amused and bemused by the whole scene there. I'm wondering if they had ever been there before.

[Lucky13]

Timon lost to one local large school -- NF.

[Ricky]

Forgot about Williams from Timon for player of year. So I'm guessing it's a race between those 2 for WNY POY?

[Ricky]

^By those 2 I meant Williams and Agbeko

[Give me a break]

Would all of you St Joe's people trying to push Reggie for player of the year please stop!!!! Enough! Real names, fake names, stop!

You don't get it. In the words of Jim Mora - PLAYOFFS!!! If they lose to Canisius or Timon in the semis of Manhattan Cup he doesn't have a chance if you think I am wrong you haven't been paying attention the past 20 years (Will lost in the Finals his junior year). So since you are all dying to see Reggie get it you better pray they at least make the finals. He is a big guy getting rebounds - relax! Inside people at Canisius said he was basically a non factor as to why they lost.

So its great his Uncle is coming on here with 20 different names trying to push him for Player of the Year but enough!

Jim Mora guys - it's all about the playoffs. You can rip me, say I am wrong, just look at past teams. Start the discussion in about 8 weeks.

[Panthers]

Give me a break..you are correct that POY discussions are certainly premature and will be determined by how far he can take Joes ultimately.

In terms of pushing Agbeko, no one has to do it here, his ody of work speaks for itself. We are simply discussing what we find exciting in WNY basketball today. If you think that Agbeko is just a rebounder then you must be another one of those with your head in the sand. CHS lovers will say anything right now to lessen the obvious loss they took on Friday. Agbeko barely play 12 minutes of that game so if he was a non-factor, then that means that the SJ promoted JV players and a bench player from last season were the ones that outplayed and beat them soundly. Thanks for proving that!

Since you were not there let me educate you. Agbeko made it impossible for CHS bigs to do anything in the paint. He also singlehandedly manhandled CHS out of a 1 point deficit at the beginning of the 4th quarter back a double figure lead. Plus was that the same Agbeko who was bringing the ball up against CHS full court press I saw and effectively breaking it. So that is your rebounder? Give me a break or check his stats at maxpreps before putting your fake moniker on these blogs.

[Patrick Moran]

There’s no doubt now we’ve reached the meaty portion of the season, this past week was very exciting. I don’t think you can deny St. Joe’s their No. 1 spot for the time being after beating Canisius and Aquinas in a seven day period. Timon really hurt themselves by losing to St. Mary’s at home, but got a lot of steam back by beating Kearney Friday, even without their big man Kearney is a great team an that’s a signature win. A bit
shocked by the Falls losing to Ken West, especially based on what I’ve seen from Ken West in person this year
.
In response to many comments in here about POY and 1st Team All-WNY guys, I still think its too early for that. Team success means a lot (I think) and there’s still a lot that can happen . At this time, I think Reggie may be starting to get himself a little separation from the field, but that’s certainly subject to change.
If I had to cast my vote today at this minute for 1st team, my team right now would consist of Reggie, Crumpton (Nia Falls), Adam Weir (Canisius), Jordan Williams (Timon) and Martin Bailey (Ken West). Campion from Jamestown is right there as well. That’s today---this could be an entire new team next week but for now, these in my opinion have been the best players representing some of the best teams.
I mean no disrespect to Stan Wier or Taplin. They are both great players. But neither are having particularly great seasons and their teams are not doing very well either. Wier is obviously a D1 talent but shouldn’t automatically win postseason honors for getting a scholarship to UB—and Im sure that will be MIG among others arguments. Talk of him being the overall player of the year at this stage of the season is just silly. Maybe he can lead his team to a postseason run (not likely) but if you ask me, him making first team right now would be more on name reputation right now than anything else.
At any rate, looking forward to another solid week of hoops upcoming, highlighted right away Monday by Timon traveling to St. Joe’s.

[Ricky]

Give me a Break. I am not Reggie's uncle. And FYI he's not just a rebounder, he's averaging 20pt and 15 reb per game. Plus he's a good passer and a terrifying defensive presence.

[Truth Be Told]

P Moran-right on with your S Wier comments-got to give the kid credit though-he has built up quite the hype machine over the years. I am not a St. Joe's alum or anything. The facts are the facts. St. Joe's is number one at this point. No question. St. Joe's beat CHS and Aquinas. Bye the way having Kelly and Dzewitz would have been no big deal. The guys that are playing for St. Joe's are as good. Dzewitz no big shakes at Lew Port.

[Ricky]

^ You're trying to say that Morris is better than Dzewitz? Not a chance. And Chad and Reggie in the front court would be a defensive nightmare for opponents.

[KKBundy]

The suggestion that Joe's "fans" shuold stop using fake names by someone who uses fake names is HILARIOUS!!!
MIG, is known by many different aliasas as well as both genders on this blog and he betrays his idenity by making his comments in the same writing "voice" in each of his aliasas. Except for when he posts as CIG and offers up his hip-hop musings, which at times are mildly entertaining.
It is truly sad that he decided to post as 2 Canisius Crusaders prior to Friday's game. Really, what were you thinking? I can answer that question. He really doesn't think the other contributors to this blog are smart enough to catch on.
As Give me a break he confirms that the regular season doesn't matter when talking about 1st team or POY(and yeah he is a pollster). It will be interesting to see if that 20 year pattern continues if East Aurora does not play in the finals of their league.
He certainly has a anti-St. Joe's bias and is open about which makes his connection to McPreptalk a little unsettling. Look at the history when Joe's were last champions, neither Phil Scaffidi or Phil Mairiana were 1st team All-Wny which was puzziling at the time and looking back continues to be so.

[Patrick Moran]

I don't care if its MIG, Keith McShea or Dick Vitale-- if there's anyone with the responsibility of being a pollster and they do NOT vote No. 1 for St. Joe's after knocking off Aquinas and Canisius over a six-game span and instead voting someone else, then that pollster has absolutely no business being involved in the process.

While Jamestown deserves a case right now, I don't see how a single pollster, coach or anyone else in WNY wouldn't have St. Joe's at the top right now. They may very well lose soon, possibly even to Timon on Monday and if that happens then things change, but St. Joe's is without question the top ranked large school in WNY as of now.

[Sam]

There is too much pious baloney on this blog!

[Use Ya Left]

Agreed... this blog is usually one of the most informative, insightful sites on high school sports around ... but sometimes it just dissolves into crap.

Allegations of paying refs? Really? Tired whining about recruiting? Predictions from certain contributors whose opinions will change next week?

Just come with reasoned insight and solid information ... and bag the clown act.

[McShea is God]

R any of u guys smart enough 2 figure out my job here? I mean u can't all REALLY b THAT stupid.

Anyone notice what happens 2 the comments section when I post? Anyone know that money can b made from blogs that get a lot of posts and hits?

Did a light just go on 4 any of u?

And no, I don't post under fake names. 2 think everytime some1 defends Stan Weir or Canisius is me using a different name - not 2 b nasty - but u r just an idiot.

Anyway guys keep up the good work!!!

PS - Woke up at 330 2 c Nadal-Djokovic WHAT A MATCH maybe the best Slam final ever! Just saw a nice sunset here (Panther-again my desperate attempt 2 impress u) and about 2 watch the Pro Bowl! Pitchers and Catcher report in 3 weeks! Gotta love sports!

[jackherlan]

A will politely disagree with those that think we would be better with any one or two players that "could have been" big contributors this team or not. A team is a delicate balance of many things and any changes to that balance changes the dynamic. This years team has developed into a pretty good team because of their collective experiences to this point of the season. Chad and John are good players that have chosen their own paths, to speculate as to what their contributions might have been and that effect on others that are here can never be determined, so it is, IMO, useless to try.

There is still much time left in this season and absolutely nothing has been decided nor will it be until sometime in March. I am guessing, however, that it will be an interesting ride.

[jackherlan]

And, oh yeah, I wouldn't trade our guys for anyone. Win or lose.

[TML1000]

That final was great...for as good as Djokovic has been, Fed, Murray and Nadal all had their chances...Fed at USO and the others in the semis and finals this week. No one can close out against him. Just like in bball, gotta close.

[Ricky]

Herlan, Hollins could turn into quite the varsity player. With some tuning up he could turn into a WNY stud. He's got the size and great raw ability.

[jackherlan]

It will be interesting to see how far his hard work will take him.