Council Rock North drops the Prep, 57-43

To beat St. Joseph's Prep, Council Rock North knew it would have to limit the Hawks' motion offense and keep Speedy Morris' basketball team from getting hot from three-point land.

Consider it done. North used a 20-9 first quarter run, made the Prep work to get open looks from beyond the arc, and put away the Hawks, 57-43, Monday night at the Jameer and Pete Nelson Philly.com/Rally Classic played at Gwynedd-Mercy College.

North (6-1) jumped ahead in the first quarter, opening with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes. That lead swelled to a 13-point advantage later in the quarter.

Down by 11 going into the second, the Prep used a 13-7 run of its own to cut the deficit to five. But North closed the half with an 8-4 run to go up by 35-26 at intermission and the Prep never got any closer.

"They went a few-minute stretch at the end of the first half where they were playing harder than us," North coach Derek Wright said. "We wanted to make sure that didn't happen in the second half."

After the Prep hit three three-pointers in the second quarter, the Indians held the Hawks to just three more in the second half. The Hawks finished 7 for 28 from beyond the arc.

The Indians had three players in double figures, including junior Arron Goodman, who had a game-high 18 points, and junior point guard Aaron Morgan, who chipped in 15 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.

The Indians' run early in the game had the Hawks playing catch-up throughout, and though they briefly cut the deficit, outscoring North by a combined four points in the second and third quarters, the Indians were never threatened.

"At the outset, I think they were tougher than we were," Morris said of his team, which was without leading rebounder Mike Levy, who was sick. "I mean, that's no excuse. I thought we battled . . . but, just basic stuff [hurt] - setting screens."

Motion and screens, a longtime staple of Morris' program, were not executed well.

"You have to screen people, wait for screens, be tough," Morris said. "You've got to block out. . . . We have to cut harder, screen better. We didn't execute at all."

In addition to the poor shooting from deep, the Hawks (5-3) shot 29 percent from the floor in their third straight defeat. Conversely, North was a solid 19 for 39 from the field (49 percent) and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.

John Raymon, who will play football at Iowa next year, contributed eight boards for the Indians and Charlie Anastasi chipped in six rebounds and three blocks. Wright called Raymon's effort "great," attributing the bruising 6-foot-6 forward's physical effort down low to yielding open shots for the rest of the team.

The Hawks, did not score in the fourth quarter until the 2-minute, 14-second mark, when Matt Stahl hit a pair of free throws. Gene Williams led the Prep with 12 points.

"They're the better team," Morris said. "The better team won."

St. Joseph's Prep   9 17 12 5 - 43

Council Rock North   20 15 10 12 - 57

SJP: Matt Stahl 2, Miles Overton 10, Wes Hackman 3, Kevin Oberlies 7, Gene Williams 12, Mike Fee 5, Steve Vasturia 4.

CRN: Matt McCloskey 5, Liam Kane 2, Aaron Morgan 15, John Raymon 4, Arron Goodman 18, Charlie Anastasi 13.