Mendez guides BVP to home win
Pride forward notches 1,000th career board
CUMBERLAND – You can teach a player how to properly box out. As for having a nose for where the ball caroms off the rim and backboard, let’s just say Blackstone Valley Prep senior Xavier Mendez has a gift.
In what’s already been a season full of milestones, Mendez entered Friday’s Division III boys basketball preliminary-round clash against Ponaganset in search of 20 rebounds to eclipse 1,000 in his career. What does the big man do? He rips down a career-best 29 boards as the fifth-seeded Pride rolled past the 12th-seeded Chieftains, 63-33.
In a bit of irony, Mendez scored his 1,000th career point against the same Ponaganset squad back on Feb. 6. To mark that occasion, BVP head coach Kevin Payette presented Mendez with a commemorative ball prior to a recent home game. As Mendez walked away from Payette, the youngster said, “One thousand rebounds next?”
That question led to a fact-finding mission. After consulting the stat sheets and watching game film, Payette and his assistants determined that Mendez was 150 rebounds away from becoming known from writing down another four-digit number next to his name.
With not much time left in the regular season, Payette believed the Pride would need to reach the Division III semifinals in order for Mendez to have a realistic shot at obtaining the illustrious rebounding mark. In no time, those best-laid plans went out the window.
Mendez opened Friday’s game with two hoops that came off two offensive rebounds. A short time later, he grabbed three (maybe four?) offensive rebounds before finally getting one to drop.
Payette never once informed Mendez how close he was to 1,000 career boards. As the first half gave way to the second half, it was clear that Mendez was inching closer to joining another “1,000” club.
Mendez did pick up three fouls in the first half, though that wasn’t going to slow him down on a night when his relentless pursuit of missed shots made him the talk of the state’s high school basketball community.
“I have to leave it all out there. It’s my senior year,” said Mendez, who received a round of applause from his teammates after Payette relayed what No. 12 in a BVP uniform achieved during his postgame address.
As thrilling as it was, Mendez didn’t become overly ecstatic. He stayed even-keeled, but that’s just the type of person he is. Individual moments have their place so long as they’re part of a winning story.
“No matter what, I’m doing it,” said Mendez. “Steals, deflections, assists, everything … I just want to do what I can to help the team.”
What shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle is the fact that Mendez achieved double-double status on Friday. He finished with 18 points, most of them of the second-chance variety. Yet this night was about the Hakeem Olajuwon-esque display he put on when it came to rebounding.
“He seems to be a second ahead of everyone. If it’s coming off, he knows where it’s going,” said Payette. “He has a natural ability and we’ve been so fortunate to have him.”
Mendez scored 10 of the 17 points that BVP put up in the first quarter. What was a 10-point game at halftime soon escalated to a 21-point lead with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter.
Mendez and Payette were complimentary of the performances turned in by fellow Pride starters Jordan Mendes (game-high 21 points), Daniel Garcia (10 points), Jaiuan Winfield (eight points), and Xavier Lora (4-of-4 at the free-throw line).
“Dan played sparingly last year … maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Now he’s out there for 30 minutes. Same thing with Xavier. He was a full-time JV guy last year. Now he’s out there the whole time,” said Payette.
Added Mendez, “Dan has worked his butt off to get to this point. I’m so happy for my fellow senior. Jordan is the future. He’s been doing great stuff this season.”
BVP opened the season with three straight losses. Since then, the Pride have won seven of eight. Next up is a quarterfinal-round game against No. 4 seed St. Patrick that will take place either Sunday or Monday.
“We started slow, then guys who only had a handful of practices, they had to keep up with [Mendez],” said Payette. “This group has really come together.”