PLANO: The Varsity Boys Basketball team hosted Carrollton Ranchview last night in a pre-district matchup with the Wolves. The two teams met last year, with a final score of 81-32 in favor of the Cardinals. This year's result wasn't much different, as JPII jumped out to a 20 point halftime lead and never looked back. A combination of crushing full-court press and lethal three-point shooting gave the Cardinals a 112-51 win in The Cage.
Sophomore forward
Cameron Corhen was a physical presence down low for JPII, leading all scorers with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and was a team high +47. Senior guard
Jalen Tot logged 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting and added 8 steals, while brother
Jajuan Tot played the role of floor general and lead the Cardinals in assists with 5, while also tacking on 7 points of his own. Juniors
Jaylon Tyson and
Alec Zambie both had 15 points on the night, while Tyson recorded 7 steals and Zambie owned the board with 7 rebounds.
The Cardinal role players took over in the second half, as junior guard
Cameron Brown was perfect from long-range, going 4-4 behind the 3-point line. Brown and co. sparked a huge run in the third quarter, giving JPII a 77-40 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. We saw more of the same in the fourth quarter, as the Cardinals stretched their lead, scoring 112 points, good for the most in a single game in program history.
Coach
Dan Lee was impressed with his team's resilience early on, commenting, "I thought we had a sluggish start, were sloppy with the basketball and weren't shooting well but our defensive intensity pulled us through those things."
"We went on a run right before half and then like all of our games so far came out after halftime and had a strong 3rd quarter," Lee said. "The team is learning that defense never has an off night and will keep you playing at a high level even when shots aren't falling."
The Cardinals are now 5-0 heading into Friday afternoon's non-district road matchup with the Dallas Thunder.
