Prep, Thomas Prove To Be Class Of A Division

Richard Thomas noticed the numbers and the acclaim. He knew Monsignor McClancys junior guard Stephen Wood was putting up some impressive stats, while he was a mere afterthought when the top players in the CHSAA A division were mentioned.
So, the senior small forward saw his match-up with Wood as a benchmark game.
"I just felt it was a challenge to me," he said of the accolades Woods had received, in part for scoring 102 points in the three-game Brother Arnold Basketball Tournament. "A lot of people feel that he is a good basketball player and Im overlooked, so I just wanted to come out here and give my team a win."
Mission accomplished. Thomas, St. Johns Prep sixth man a year ago, now their leading scorer, finished with a game-high 31 points as St. Johns Prep ran roughshod over McClancy, 80-55, at home Tuesday afternoon.
"Richard steps up against big-time players," said St. Johns Prep coach James Gatto.
Trailing by two late in the opening half, Thomas ignited a 32-12 Red Storm run, bridging the final few minutes of the second quarter to the end of the third.
First, Thomas scored off an offensive rebound and follow, then converted a steal in the open court into a lay-up, before knocking down a 3-pointer to give St. Johns Prep a five-point lead, 29-24, at intermission.
Thomas, however, didnt stop there. He would add 11 points in the third, a quarter in which St. Johns Prep (12-0, 7-0 CHSAA A South) turned the first league meeting between these teams into a laugher, outscoring the Crusaders 26-11 to go up by 20, 55-35.
Thomas, of course, wasnt alone. Senior point guard Chris Williams added 17 points, 7 of which came in the third quarter, which he began with a three-point play in the lane; center Jelani Winfield added 12 and the most important contributor of all, aside from Thomas, perhaps, was Richard Jean Baptiste, who finished with 14.
It wasnt his scoring, though, that was significant.
Baptiste, a 6-3, 190-pound senior power forward, who didnt receive much playing time off the bench a year ago, has morphed into Gattos defensive stopper.
It began at the Monsignor King Tournament when he played great defense on Moore Catholics Kyle McAlarney, the Notre Dame-bound guard, and has continued.
On this given day he found himself matched against Woods. After the slashing guard out of Jamaica managed 12 first-half points, Baptiste put the clamps on him, holding him to just a lay-up in the second half, frustrating him at every turn.
"Any baskets he got, he had to earn," said McClancy coach Don Kent.
As for McClancy (8-4, 4-2 CHSAA A South), their first test in their new league was a disappointment.
"They cleanly outplayed us," said McClancy coach Don Kent. "They outshot us, they out-defensed us, they took care of the ball better; every part of the game they beat us at."
They were led by Terrence Howards 18 points and Woods added 14.
Ironically, the Crusaders moved down from the CHSAA AA to the A in part because of blowout losses like the one St. Johns Prep handed them.