CLARK, NJ- The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders boys varsity basketball team knew several different adversities were in their way when they took to the floor against the Christ the King High School Knights (Newark) Saturday night. First, they were looking to snap a two-game losing streak after enduring back-to-back losses in the John “Butch” Kowal Christmas Tournament and second, they were short in their lineup.
“I think we slightly got away from playing team basketball during that Rahway Tournament,” Johnson senior George Visconti said. “We weren’t playing completely together, so at practice, we were trying to focus on stuff like that.”
As the second half started, Johnson saw contributions from all of their starters on the floor. On the offensive side, the Crusaders came back from a small deficit at halftime, scoring eight straight points over a span of three minutes to take a large lead they would not relinquish. In the end, the Crusaders outscored the Knights 17-4 in the quarter to help secure a 67-53 win.
Christ the King HS reached the NJSIAA North Jersey, Non-Public B Quarterfinals last year and posted a 23-4 record.
“We knew coming in, this was a great team,” Johnson head coach Dave Kennedy said. “[Christ the King] came off a great season last year, so they had some momentum going into the year.”
On the defensive side, they saw contributions from senior Ross Wildes, whose defensive work helped the Crusaders at several ends of the floor. He provided the key rebounding and made a few plays, featuring some steals that led to possessions that ended with points that helped his team take the quarter by storm.
“It was awesome,” Wildes said of his first career varsity start. “It was a lot more running than I’m used to. It was fun to get out there.”
In addition to that, with missing a starter, the Crusaders knew teamwork and playing together were going to have to be traits carried over for the next week.
“We were a man down, so we had a mindset of playing together for 32 minutes and looking out for each other,” Visconti said. “We had to pass and play fundamental basketball and I thought we did that today. We executed and we handled ourselves well down the stretch.”
“If you piece those things together, the end result is a good night,” he added.
With his playing time increasing after the graduation of the 2017 seniors, Wildes took in the action and although there were no numbers on the offensive side of the game, he contributed for the team on defense, something that was not overlooked by his teammates on the floor.
“Ross was fantastic for us tonight,” Visconti said. “He stepped up and did the intangibles very well and that helped us a lot. We came out for the second half fired up. We really wanted to stick it to [Christ the King] and play hard.”
As the third quarter started, Johnson trailed Christ the King 41-39 after the two teams traded points on back-to-back possessions, before the Crusaders found a spark on the offense. Visconti, who scored 14 first half points, tied the game at 41-41, before juniors Brandon Hund and Brenden Kelly added fuel to the explosive offense, powering an 8-0 Crusaders scoring run that put them ahead 45-41 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
Hund finished with 13 points for Johnson, while senior Jeff Drajin added eight points in the win.
Johnson wasn’t done on offense, as they added nine more points, courtesy of Visconti draining two straight shots and Kelly added another basket to make it a 51-43 lead. The Crusaders showed their work on defense, not allowing the Knights to get shots for the rest of the quarter.
“We let up only four third quarter points, which is just huge,” Visconti said. “It obviously shows how well we can play and execute on that end.”
After a missed shot from the Knights, Kelly took the ball and immediately heaved it in the air towards the basket as the buzzer sounded, giving Johnson a 54-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter, as the students cheered on the players.
“The whole game, we knew we were a man down and we just had to pick it up,” Wildes said. “When we know we are firing from all cylinders, we can beat anyone. I think the third quarter shows that.”
With him and his teammates all zeroed in on the shot and the net, it went through, sending the bench and players in a frenzy, capping off a turnaround quarter for the Crusaders, who were locked in a tight first half before the adjustments were made.
“Coach [Kennedy] was just telling us to get back on defense, play harder and box out because we were boxing out too much,” Kelly said. “We had to rebound and stick together.”
On the night, Kelly finished with 18 points, featuring 3 three-point shots.
In total, Johnson has proven they’re a second half team, with adjustments being made at halftime against New Providence, New Egypt and Christ the King powering the way to dominance on both sides of the game.
Also for Johnson, Visconti finished with 28 points and credited his teammates on rebounding from the losses after being away from the court for eight days with snow postponing their away game at Cranford HS.
In the fourth quarter, Johnson built a lead as high as 57-43 with 7:20 left and never looked back, securing their first win in the 2018 calendar portion of the season. Overall, with the third and fourth quarters, Johnson went on a 12-0 scoring run of just over four minutes to effectively ice the game and get back on track.
Johnson connected for seven three-points shots as a team, along with draining 16 free throws, with 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Kennedy praised his players for coming through in the second half for their play on both sides of the game.
“We rebounded, we got a couple of steals and we converted, so we were able to put some possessions together consecutively, so that was huge for us,” Kennedy said.
The Johnson Crusaders (4-2) are back in action when they play Jonathan Dayton High School (Springfield) on Tuesday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m.
The Christ the King Knights (4-3) are back in action when they return home and take on Irvington HS on Tuesday, January 9 at 7:00 p.m.
