Chemistry has a lot to do with the success of the 2016-17 Saint Patrick basketball team.
Three of the Shamrocks top scorers – Laurence Merritt ’17, Xavier Pinson ’18 and Jalen Nelson ’17 – were starters on last year’s sectional final team, and many other core returnees earned valuable playing team a season ago. Each of those young men now have a renewed sense of confidence, which has carried St. Pat’s to a 16-2 start to the season and a No. 11 ranking by the Chicago Tribune.
Their maturity has been extremely clear, as of late.
When Benet Academy nearly came back from 11 points down in a rivalry game at St. Pat’s on Jan. 13, Merritt hit a big 3-pointer to secure the victory. And when the Shamrocks trailed by eight points in the final three minutes of a game against No. 12 Orr Academy on Jan. 16, the team found a way to come together and pull out the victory.
“When things get a little bit tough, these guys know how to weather the storm,” coach Mike Bailey said. “They’ve been through the wars and they know how to react to different situations, both on the court and off the court.”
Size has also been a big factor in the Shamrocks’ success. The addition of high-flying California transfer Alton Thompson ’17 has certainly helped, as has the emergence of Ayo Ajayi ’17, Jeremiah Jones ’18 and Max Cioffi ’17 – all of whom stand between 6-foot-4 and 6-6.
The additional size has pushed Keishun Thomas ’17 into the role of the “sixth starter,” and has sometimes meant that Nelson doesn’t get as many shots as he had been accustomed to taking. Bailey has been extremely impressed with the seamless adjustments the pair has been able to make.
“Those two guys, besides being really good players for us, they set the tone for everybody else on the team,” Bailey said. “When you see kids like that sacrifice, it’s hard for other guys not to sacrifice, too.”
St. Pat’s size and experience has allowed the team to win in a variety of ways, whether that means playing shutdown defense or picking up the pace and simply outscoring opponents.
A Shamrocks program that has generally won games by limiting teams to around 12 points per quarter has now given up 70 points in back-to-back contests – and defeated two of the state’s top teams. It’s not because the defense is bad, it’s because the team is scoring so quickly.
“For most high school teams, winning when giving up 70 would be unheard of. If you’re giving up 70 points you’re probably losing by 10, 15 points,” said Bailey, who admitted that he would like to see his defense improve in the second half of the season.
“As we get deeper into February, and the intensity picks up, we’re going to have to grind out some defensive wins. I think we’ll be able to do that, but we just need to tighten up our defense a little bit more.”
The Shamrocks will be back in action this weekend, traveling to Carmel Catholic (8-11) for a 7 p.m. game on Friday, Jan. 20, before visiting Dundee-Crown (3-13) at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21.
