Even though the season is still young, St. Joseph’s Joffari Brown has already learned the valuable lesson that free throws are extremely important.
In the Chargers’ Catholic League North opener against De La Salle on Friday, Dec. 4, the sophomore forward knocked down two free throws with 1 minute, 7 seconds left to give St. Joseph a lead it maintained to the end.
Overall, the Chargers (5-0, 1-0) hit 6 of 7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to earn a 51-47 victory over the Meteors in Westchester.
“It is really big, because if I had never hit those free throws at the end, the game could have gone another way,” Brown said.
Free throws have been a point of emphasis for St. Joseph after a less-than-acceptable performance from the line over Thanksgiving.
“Coach (Gene Pingatore) told us we had a bad free-throw percentage in the St. Charles East tournament,” Brown said. “Ever since then, we have been working on our free throws real hard. We work on them a lot. Every time in practice, when we get tired, he sends us to the free-throw line. Everybody shoots two and rotates.”
Brown finished with 11 points against De La Salle (4-1, 0-1), including hitting 9-of-10 free-throw attempts.
“I just go to the line, take three dribbles, spin the ball and make the shot,” Brown said.
Senior Nick Rakocevic led St. Joseph with 18 points and 17 rebounds, while also adding four blocks and three assists.
He only had two points in the fourth quarter, when seven different players scored for the Chargers. They erased a 42-37 lead the Meteors had built in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
“We did not go to him (Rakicevic) enough, and we need to learn that,” Pingatore said. “We are very young, so it is going to take time. Nick has got to touch the ball on almost every possession.”
While St. Joseph was sharing the scoring load in the fourth quarter, it was the polar opposite for the Meteors.
Senior George Willborn scored all 11 points in the final period for De La Salle, which led 36-35 after three quarters. He was the only player in double figures for the Meteors, finishing with a game-high 31 points.
“We knew he was their best player,” Pingatore said. “He is a great player; we had to stop him. At the end, I thought Armone Elem did real good job on him. He forced him to take two bad shots, which went our way.”
Aside from Willborn, the rest of the Meteors managed just two shot attempts in the fourth quarter.
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“They are just so long and they are so aggressive,” De La Salle coach Tom White said. “They are so athletic, at all five spots. Even their kids coming off the bench are so athletic. It was a great game. We played well and they played well.”
Patrick Kelly is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.