Eustace continues upswing, downs Camden Catholic

The Bishop Eustace boys' basketball team entered the season with high expectations on a junior-laden unit that was ranked highly in South Jersey.

But after losses in four of the first eight games, suddenly the Crusaders were out of the rankings and the consciousness of many South Jersey fans.

Eustace is still unranked, but no longer underappreciated after Tuesday's 62-53 win over host Camden Catholic in an Olympic Conference National Division game.

The Crusaders are 14-5 and have won 10 of their last 11 games.

"We came into the season with a lot of hype, which was probably unfair since we had not proven ourselves," said junior point guard Carson Puriefoy, who had 16 points Tuesday. "Now the way we're playing, we hope to get back in the rankings."

This win was significant on several fronts, but the biggest was that it avenged a 57-47 overtime loss to the Irish, who are ranked No. 9 in South Jersey by The Inquirer.

"They might have been a little down early in the season, but Eustace has redirected that ship," said Camden Catholic coach Jim Crawford, who saw his team's nine-game winning streak snapped, falling to 14-4.

"They played smart, good team basketball, and what is so difficult is that anybody on the court is capable of scoring for them."

That's no exaggeration.

All five starters scored between 7 points and the 17 registered by junior forward Sho DaSilva. And that doesn't count Greg Sobocinski, an impressive performer who came off the bench to score five points.

Eustace entered the game intent on not allowing 6-foot-5 Camden Catholic sophomore Kyle Green to beat them. Green, who still managed 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, is averaging 20 points and has done a great job this season of recognizing double teams.

He's still, however, adjusting to the triple teams. Eustace often swarmed three men around the ball, giving the Irish sophomore the respect of a senior.

Meanwhile, on the other end, the Irish tried to take Puriefoy out of the game, often employing a box-and-one on the Eustace point guard.

Puriefoy, who entered the game averaging 22.1 points, was content to distribute the ball. He had only nine field-goal attempts.

"We showed we have a lot of people who can score, and one reason for our improvement is that we are playing much better team basketball," Puriefoy said.

When Eustace increased its lead to 18 points early in the fourth quarter, this one looked like a rare rout.

But Camden Catholic got to within five points after Matt McElhatton made 1 of 2 free throws with 1 minute, 34 seconds left. The Irish just missed getting the rebound on the second free throw, and Puriefoy hit four straight free throws to thwart Camden Catholic's final run.

"We let them back in the game, but give them credit for getting there," Eustace coach Bob Falconiero said.

Bishop Eustace   18 16 14 14 – 62

Camden Catholic   11 16 6 20 – 53

BE: Carson Puriefoy 16, Trevor Norton 8, Sho DaSilva 17, Dexter Harris 9, Will Lenon 7, Greg Sobocinski 5.

CC: Matt McElhatton 9, Tom Fisher 5, Kyle Green 15, Jackson Callahan 2, Garrett Kashmer 10, Mike Crawford 6, Amir Armstrong 6.