Scoring success
for Ryan basketball

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Even on Super Bowl Sunday, the Crusaders and Raiders can pack the house.
When the Father Judge and Archbishop Ryan basketball teams meet up, a big crowd can be expected. No matter what else is going on, supporters of those two high schools are going to be in attendance.
And shortly before the New England Patriots and the New York Giants took the field in Arizona, the Crusaders visited the Raiders for a Catholic League Northern Division showdown.
Eric Jann was the star.
Jann is a senior swingman for the Raiders, and on Sunday he was Mr. Clutch.
Jann scored six of his 11 points in the final quarter, after the Raiders had jumped out to a large first-half advantage, fell behind with one minute left — and then won the game, 49-45.
For his part, Jann drained a long-distance trey and hit three of four foul shots to put his Raiders in a nice spot.
"I love going to the line in those situations," said Jann. "I felt really confident because I’ve been hitting a lot of my foul shots, especially lately. I’ve been really comfortable there.
"And I love playing Judge. Our biggest games of the year, well, at least two of our biggest games are here versus Judge and when we go there."
The win was massive for the Raiders because it gave them a little breathing room in a clustered Northern Division.
North Catholic currently leads the pack at 10-2. Ryan and Cardinal Dougherty sit at 8-4, while Judge and La Salle are 6-6.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, North has secured a spot. The four other teams are vying to clinch the three remaining slots. In fact, second through fifth place in the playoff seeding is still very much up in the air.
Bottom line: Ryan’s triumph over Judge was important.
"It’s nice to get out with a win," said Ryan coach Bernie Rogers, who has guided Ryan to the playoffs in each of his seven seasons. "This year it’s definitely interesting. Anytime you can beat another team, it’s a good win, so today was a good win."
Helping Jann with heroics was Anthony Keiter, who also scored 11, Rus Slawter (10 points) and point guard Andrew Rogers (nine points).
Judge was led by big man Andrew Vose, who scored 18 points. Jimmy DiLisio and Bob Zanneo each had 10.
Tom Ryan, who scored seven points for the Crusaders, played extremely well at the defensive end, pestering Andrew Rogers, which greatly disrupted the Raiders’ offense in the second half.
Jann scored his points in a variety of ways. He drained two three-pointers, hit a jumper and scored three from the line.
Jann prides himself on his ability to play just about any position, a benefit for the Raiders’ Princeton-style offense.
"I was kind of lucky because I played a swingman kind of position my whole life," said Jann, whose team jumped out to a 14-7 lead after one quarter. "Here you have positions, but everyone has to handle the ball and everyone has to be able to shoot the ball.
"So when I got here, after I picked up the offense, it wasn’t too hard," added Jann, a two-year starter. "Ever since, it’s been a lot of fun because you have an opportunity to do a lot of things."
While Jann was all smiles following the game, Judge coach Frank Cahill was dealing with mixed emotions. He was disappointed that his team failed to pick up a win after the squad’s victory over North Catholic on Friday night, but he was happy with the effort his troops put forth in the loss.
"There were a few plays that went their way," Cahill said. "It was a great game, I’m sure, but we had opportunities. You can’t get mad, though, because these kids played their hearts out." ••
Joe Mason can be reached at joemason70@hotmail.com