Allderdice seniors carry on tradition
Tony Henderson, Rob Jones and Blake Haber were understudies for Allderdice the past few seasons, seeing the majority of their minutes in mop-up duty behind standouts such as Jackson Blaufeld and Bobby Clifford.
The three are now among five seniors in the starting lineup for the Dragons. It’s a group that is making the most of their opportunity and could have the team headed for a seventh consecutive City League title.
“We realized this was our chance,” Henderson said. “Last year we didn’t play a lot, so this year we knew we had to step up, and the senior class has.”
Under first-year coach Devin Crummie — he took over for Buddy Valinsky, who guided the Dragons to six consecutive titles before leaving for Norwin — Allderdice again ranks among the best of any City League or WPIAL team. The Dragons (13-3) beat WPIAL Class 6A power PineRichland, 61-59, Saturday, for their eighth win a row. That streak ended Monday with a loss to New Town, Md.
Henderson, a 6-foot-3 guard, averages 16.3 points a game. Jones, a 6-1 guard, averages 15.8. Haber, a 6-3 guard-forward, averages 12.7. They’ve been the team’s top three scorers, which has come as little surprise to Crummie. He said Valinsky talked to him about their potential when Crummie got the job.
“We have some guys that can score,” Crummie said. “Rob Jones is a strong guy. He can drive and shoot. Tony Henderson is a very skilled guy that is long and athletic. And Blake Haber, his specialty is his 3-point accuracy. With those three, we feel comfortable we can put up points.”
Against Pine-Richland, the trio combined to score all but three of Allderdice’s points. Jones scored 25, Henderson 18 and Haber 16.
Joining them as starters have been 5-7 guard Sean Graves and 6-3 forward Josphat Mukogosi.
Allderdice’s win against Westinghouse on Tuesday improved the Dragons to 6-0 in league play. It was also their 34th consecutive City League win, which includes regular season and postseason games.
“It’s been great coming into a program like Allderdice that is so well established,” said Crummie, formerly an assistant at Central Catholic. “It’s nice to come into a place where the expectations are high and the commitment is high.”
Speaking of expectations, Henderson talked about some of them.
“We of course want to win another City title,” he said, “and we want to take it even farther than that.”
Obama Academy
As good as Allderdice is, the
Dragons are no lock to win another City League championship. That’s because Obama Academy, somewhat quietly, is playing at a pretty high level.
“I think if they were in WPIAL 5A, they would be mentioned as being one of the top teams,” Crummie said.
Since starting the season with four consecutive losses to WPIAL teams, the Eagles have been flying high, winning eight of their past 10 games to improve to 8-6 overall, 4-1 in league play. Their only league loss came against Allderdice, 54-48, last Tuesday.
Obama’s fifth win was somewhat shocking. The Eagles, a 10-11 team last season, took down defending PIAA Class 6A champion Kennedy Catholic, 58-57, on its home court Jan. 8. Kennedy Catholic, then ranked No. 2 in the state, led Obama by five with a minute left, but the Eagles rallied, eventually winning on Sayon Bennett’s 3pointer with three seconds left.
“Because of that we know that we can play anyone tough and win games, even if we’re down. It gave us a lot of confidence,” Obama coach Devas Simmons said.
Bennett, a junior point guard, is averaging a teambest 15.6 points per game. Senior forward Sean Snead is just behind him at 14.5 a game, and is also averaging nine rebounds.
“Sayon has been big,” Simmons said. “He knows when to take charge. He finds ways to score buckets. He’s become a complete player, which is nice. And Sean has done the same thing.”
The Eagles have a promising freshman in starting shooting guard Tariq Francis. Seniors Natel Blessitt and Angelo Myers are the other starters.
Seton LaSalle
Seton LaSalle has been playing about as well as any team in Class 3A this calendar year, winning all seven of its games to improve to 11-4.
A big test will come its way Friday when it hosts Section 2 rival North Catholic, a game which Seton LaSalle has probably had circled since the late hours of Dec. 20. That night, the Rebels suffered an 87-47 loss to the Trojans. It was their worst defeat since the first game of the 2009-10 season.
Since ending 2019 with three consecutive losses, the Rebels have picked up five section wins in addition to strong non-section victories against Class 5A McKeesport and Class 1A Bishop Canevin. The Rebels have been led offensively by senior guard Michael Bigley (16.6 ppg).
North Catholic (13-2) is ranked No. 2 in Class 3A and leads Section 2 with a 7-0 record. Seton LaSalle is 7-1. North Catholic sharpshooter Isaac DeGregorio scored 33 points, including 30 in the first half, when the teams met last month.