Chaminade Hoops Secondary Helps Pluck Bayhawks Again

If you got to the St. Dominic’s gym a little late Friday night, finding yourself lost on Route 106 or puffing up the hill upon which runs Burtis Avenue, you missed a lot – or a little – depending on which side of the hardwood you sat.

If you happen to be there for Chaminade you would have seen Liam Murphy shoot 12 of his 16 points, Brian Ehrhardt go 6-for-8 from the line and Michael Walsh nail down five from inside the lane on his way to seven and a total of 15.

And all within the first half.

“I said to Murph before the game ‘this is a game that you can sleepwalk through, probably win the game where you can be like a real player, come out right from the beginning’ and that’s what he was,” Chaminade head coach Bob Paul said.

If you happen to be rooting for St. Dominic’s, well, you didn’t miss much. Not from an anemic offense that collectively was lucky to rack up a double-digit total in the first quarter before having its shooting percentage cut in half before the break and only one fieldgoal the entire 32 minutes against the Flyers.

The game was so one-sided – 41-15 at the half – that almost all of the starters collectively sat for most of the final 16 minutes, itself a rare occurrence, and giving the bench its longest time on the floor this year before the buzzer put an end to an 80-36 romp.

“They work every single day, as hard as the other guys,” Paul said of the secondary. “It’s not their time right now. Our (starters) did what they had to do in order to create enough of a cushion that you can play those guys and they don’t get a lot of minutes so you have to be able to play through their mistakes.”

Not that the secondary had many of which to speak of.

“They played well,” Paul said, “I said that to them, I said ‘you opened my eyes’.”

Facing a team like the Bayhawks again in such a short span – with a non-league game against Nazareth sandwiched in – especially with a 40-point spread the last time out, you can feel like you can just sleepwalk through four quarters.

“When you play a team big the first time there can be a let down and we talked about it every single day this week,” said Paul.

Some, like Thomas Ahern, did not have another career-night from beyond the arc, making only two from downtown Saturday.

Forward John Patterson though, did have a better night than he did against St. Dominic’s the first time around, getting seven inside the paint and one from the line.

“Jon can really score from the inside and he’s effective,” Paul said of the Bayville native.

Patterson also happens to be a lefty, which is awkward to guard for other defenses and gives the Flyers options at both sides.

“We can run stuff from Mike (Walsh) on the right side and John on the left side so it’s really, really good for us,” Paul said.

There’s also the matter that he didn’t have too long to travel this time out.

“Jon lives close so it’s kind of like a local game for him,” Paul said. “It’s like a homecoming for him.”

A drive he can almost sleepwalk through.