by Jonathan Vander Lugt

Every sports league has its big-time rivalry.

Red Sox-Yankees. Michigan-Ohio State. Lakers-Celtics. The list goes on.

In Philadelphia Catholic League circles that matchup is between La Salle College High School and St. Joe's Prep. Their football tilts draw four figures and tailgates, and this year's basketball go-round necessitated the sale of actual paper tickets.

Think about it—printed card stock tickets for a high school game. Needless to say, the gym was packed for the PCL regular-season-ending matchup between the Hawks and the Explorers, and for three quarters the teams delivered.

After a cat-and-mouse third quarter that saw a game-long lead twice trimmed to just one point, La Salle pulled away in the fourth to leave victorious, 55-36.

“I thought it showed the real character of our guys,” said Explorer coach Joe Dempsey. “They pushed back in the third quarter, we lost our momentum, and our body language was bad.”

“This game's always emotional,” Dempsey said. “Kids are revved up, because it's a big rivalry, and sometimes you don't always play best when you're so emotional.”

“But they did,” he went on. “They responded, and we're proud of them.”

La Salle led 29-21 at the half, but a fast third-quarter start by SJP led mainly by Temi Aiyegbusi's seven in the frame trimmed it to just 31-30. La Salle pulled ahead, but the Prep came right back cutting it to 35-34 later in the frame.

That, more or less, was the end of the game for St. Joe's Prep. La Salle scored the third quarter's last seven to push the lead back to eight, and didn't allow a Hawk point until Anto Keshgegian's garbage-time free throw with 10.9 seconds left.

No, not 10.9 in the third quarter, but 10.9 in the game.

“We just really wanted it,” said La Salle's Ryan McTamney. “We just wanted to make sure that we were staying with what we were doing and we didn't let up.”

“We finally got the tempo going the way we wanted to,” Dempsey said.

That could be a top nominee for understatement of the year. The Explorer defense was unrelenting, led by Shane Stark's work on Pete Gayhardt and Jarrod Stukes' masterpiece on Darius Kinnel.

“He plays great defense, and finishes well for a little guy,” Dempsey said. The program lists him at 5-feet-10-inches, but that might be a hair generous. “He's tough.”

“We wanted to make sure our guards sure they didn't get any clean looks,” Dempsey said. Three-balls are a strength of the Hawks, but La Salle held them to just three throughout the contest.

Stukes held the rangy sophomore guard to just two, and while Gayhardt did end up leading his team with 13, he was largely kept off the boards despite a likely 20-pound size advantage over his primary opponent.

“We have a lot of respect for him,” Dempsey said, of Gayhardt. “We knew he had to keep him off the boards, because one of the things he's good at is keeping possessions alive.”

In addition to his defensive work, Stark netted 12, and fellow senior Ryan McTamney led the gym with 17. Stukes also scored 12 to pair with his stellar defensive effort. No Hawk other than Gayhardt finished with more than eight.

“I challenged them,” Dempsey said, of McTamney and Stark, “and they both responded. Hopefully they can keep that momentum going into the playoffs.”

Speaking of which—the win locks up the fourth seed in the PCL's postseason tournament. The Explorers take on Archbishop Ryan Friday at home, and will have to work through a long layoff before they're able to get back on the court for real-time action. If they lose, they're done, as their chances of grabbing one of District 12's three spots in the state dance without advancing anywhere in the tournament would be incredibly slim.

“It's huge,” to go into the playoffs with a strong showing like this, Stark said. “The past few years, we were playing really well going into the playoffs, and I think we're doing it again.”

To repeat the last couple years' success would be quite a feat—La Salle marched to the state title game in 2014 and to the state quarterfinals last year. This year, they'll have to get past the defending state champ Roman Catholic, and the participants in last year’s AAA title bout, Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Carroll.

Stark went on, “We're playing our best basketball at the right time.”