In the past couple seasons, Bonner has had much success against the Cardinal O'Hara basketball team. They have swept the Lions in each of the past three years in the regular season, and have won 13 of 15 games against them. They can make it 14 of 16. Bonner is halfway there to making it four straight season sweeps, as the Friars defeated O'Hara 53-42 in a very competitive rivalry game.
The early moments of the first quarter started off well for the green and white. They jumped out to leads of 5-2 and 9-4. However O'Hara was able to storm back and take a 14-11 lead late in the half. In the last seconds of the half, Joe McGinn drove to the basket and was fouled. He knocked down both free throws, cutting O'Hara's lead to 14-13 after one quarter. The second quarter was all Bonner. Key buckets by Jamal Melvin and Dan Vanderslice propelled the Friars to an early 7-0 run. At halftime, Bonner held a 27-21 lead.
Bonner continued to outplay the Lions in the third stanza. O'Hara started to inch back late in the quarter, but a key three pointer by Melvin ended any momentum the Lions gained. Bonner had a 38-30 lead at the end of three quarters of play. In the fourth, things got a little nerve racking for the Friars. Bonner's offense froze early in the last quarter of play. They couldn't buy a bucket. Meanwhile, one team's misfortune is the others opportunity. O'Hara took advantage of the missed chances by Bonner, and cut the lead to 38-35. Bonner was able to get off their scoring drought midway through the quarter, and took a 45-36 lead. Once again, O'Hara inched back, cutting the lead down to three. But Bonner was just too much. Strong defense from Vanderslice and Francis helped seal the win. Clutch free throw shooting helped as well, as Bonner was 13/16 from the line. McGinn hit four foul shots with under twenty seconds left in the game to clinch the victory. Jamal Melvin was 6 of 13 from the field, but was clutch when he had to be. O'Hara was just unable to stop the very quick and skilled point guard. He finished with a game high 17 points. Keefer Francis also had a big game, scoring 10 points, while blocking three shots. McGinn finished with 11 points, and Vanderslice finished with 7. For O'Hara, Anthony Bertolino, Dan Kearney, and Ryan Howarth each had 10 points in the loss.
With the win, Bonner improves to 5-9 overall, and 2-5 in the Catholic League. O'Hara meanwhile falls to 5-9 overall, and 1-5 in league play. Bonner looks to build off of this huge win against the neighborhood rival Lions into the second half of the season, and get back into the playoff mix. The quest begins Sunday against St. Joe's Prep. Prep beat Bonner earlier in the year 60-38, but the Friars are determined to earn a much better result. Tip off is set for 2:30 at the Prep.
Notes: Personally, I think the schedule-makers should just give Bonner two home games against O'Hara. Bonner's student rooters took over O'Hara's gym, and gave the feel of the game being played in the comfort of Bonner's gym. Things turned intense, when the surprisingly many O'Hara fans got up to try and make it a student section war midway through the second quarter. At half time, some O'Hara kids started dancing in front of Bonner's section, prompting some of the Bonner students to have a "dance-off" on the court. It was a very entertaining night for the many spectators watching, as they saw not only a tremendous game, but also a boisterous and entertaining Bonner crowd. On second thought, keep the one game at O'Hara. It's much more fun having the rival school's gym to ourselves (smile).
Elsewhere in the PCL Red Division: Father Judge beat Archbishop Ryan 42-40. LaSalle got by North Catholic 59-54. Roman Catholic held St. Joe's Prep to only 26 points, as the Cahillites won 39-26.
In the Blue Division: Neumann-Goretti dismantled Lansdale Catholic 82-41. The nationally ranked Saints stay undefeated in PCL play. Defending state champions Archbishop Carroll knocked off Conwell-Egan 53-29. Archbishop Wood beat Bishop McDevitt 70-48. Cardinal Dougherty defeated West Catholic 59-57.
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