Basketball: Paul VI beats Camden Catholic
By Phil Anastasia
Devahnte Mosley deflected the pass.
Ivan Robinson saved the basketball from going out of bounds.
Jair Green grabbed it and passed ahead to Jay Howard.
Howard dunked in front of an appreciative home crowd of Paul VI students.
The sequence summed up Paul VI's imposing 55-34 victory over Camden Catholic on Tuesday night in a clash of Top 10 teams and Olympic National rivals: Defense, unselfish play and a finish with a flourish.
Howard scored 18 and Robinson generated six steals and four assists against his old team as No. 1 Paul VI ran its record to 14-1.
"That's our bread and butter," Mosley (pictured) said of the Eagles' pressure defense. "We knew Camden Catholic is a patient team that likes to run its stuff. We wanted to disrupt them."
No. 10 Camden Catholic (10-5), which had won six in a row, scored just 15 points in the second half, and just five in the fourth quarter.
Jake Johnson led the Irish with nine points.
"I thought we played well for three quarters," Camden Catholic coach Matt Crawford said. "But it got away from us in the fourth quarter."
PVI broke the game open with pressure defense. The Eagles' generated several turnovers with their zone trap, creating fast-break opportunities.
As always, the Eagles shared the ball in transition, with Robinson feeding Mosley for consecutive layups in one telling stretch. For the game, the Eagles collected 14 assists, with Mosley and Robinson each with four.
Matt Risse added 11 points with five rebounds for PVI and pushed his career point total to the brink of 1,000.
"We all know our roles," Mosley said. "We don't care about stats. We just want to win."
Camden Catholic 10 9 10 5 -- 34
Paul VI 12 12 11 20 -- 55
CC: Rob Brosh 4, Tom Organ 6, Brendan Crawford 7, Courtney Cubbage 8, Jake Johnson 9.
PVI: Jay Howard 18, Matt Risse 11, Jair Green 6, DeVahnte Mosley 6, Ivan Robinson 7, Alex Danko 4, Jahvan Rosbia 3.
-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com
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