St. Joe Pulls Out of Hoop Hall Classic

UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, St. Joseph boys basketball coach Paul Brindle advised iBerkshires.com that his team was pulling out of the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic on Saturday and rescheduling its Friday night game against Lenox to later in the season because of the Crusaders' inability to field a team due to illness. School was canceled at St. Joseph on Friday after nearly half the student body was out sick on Thursday, Brindle reports. The following story was posted on iBerkshires.com on Thursday night and addresses the health issues with the team:

Saturday figured to be a highlight of the St. Joseph Central High School boys basketball team's season.

Instead, it could be a day to forget.

The Crusaders travel to Springfield Saturday morning to take on Hartford, Conn.'s, Capital Prep in the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic at Springfield College.

Coach Paul Brindle knew going into the year that the Trailblazers would pose a mighty challenge to the defending Western Massachusetts Division 3 champions. But the Crusaders have not shied away from challenges.

What Brindle did not know was that St. Joe would go into its biggest independent game of the season with its biggest star representing a giant question mark.

And the potential loss of Taverick "Tank" Roberson is just the beginning.

"We're a hurting group right now," Brindle said on Wednesday night. "The flu went through our team. It started last week and one-by-one they've been getting it.

"Three kids played last night with 102 temperatures."

"Last night" was Tuesday's narrow loss at Drury, a game that saw St. Joe sit arguably its second most important player, Michael Carpenter, and lose its most important, Roberson, to an ankle injury at the start of the fourth quarter.

The three Crusaders who gutted it out with a fever? They felt they had to for the good of the team. St. Joe's regular rotation only goes eight deep; its bench is made up of junior varsity players.

But Tuesday was in the past.

The future is Friday's league game against Lenox and Saturday's independent showdown against Capital Prep, which boasts one player who already has a Division I scholarship in his pocket and several who are strong D-I prospects.

Brindle said it is very possible that Roberson will not suit up for either game.

"I talked to Tank this morning, and I don't think he'll be able to play Friday or Saturday," Brindle said.

Brindle said he is especially disappointed for Roberson (27.8 points, six assists through nine games). The game should have been an opportunity for him to display his skills before a crowd regularly packed with college coaches.

Instead, Roberson will be hampered by injury at best and wearing street clothes at worst.

The other concern, of course, is how St. Joe will stack up against Capital Prep, which is 8-1 this year with all of its wins by 50 points and its one loss to Capital Magnet, one of the best programs in the Nutmeg State.

The Trailblazers feature guard Kahlil Dukes, who averages 20 points per game and has committed to the University of Southern California on a full athletic scholarship.

His classmate, 6-foot-4 forward Brandon Marshall, is yet to announce where he will play his college ball, but Brindle says he hears that Marshall likely will go Division I as well. Junior point guard Levy Gillespie Jr., son of the Trailblazers' coach, is 6-3, averages 20 ppg and eight or nine assists per game and is ranked as one of the top junior prospects in the country.

Brindle can get a lot of information about Saturday's opponent from websites that track big-time college prospects. But he also has some inside information from St. Joe alumnus Gary Barcher, who coaches at Bloomfield High School in New Haven, Conn., and has taken his team up against Capital Prep.

"He pretty much said this is a team you're never going to see in Massachusetts -- not at the Division 3 level," Brindle said.

Of course, St. Joe is not just any Division 3 team itself. And earlier this year, a healthy Crusaders team was within four points of Flushing, N.Y.'s, Holy Cross with four minutes to play before losing by 10, 60-50.

That is the kind of performance Brindle would have liked his team to show on Saturday.

But no matter what kind of Crusader team takes the floor, the fact that it is in the nationally-known event speaks volumes about what St. Joseph has accomplished in recent years.

"This tournament is the premiere high school basketball tournament in the country," Brindle said. "For us to be invited for a second year in a row says they've respected the program and given us the opportunity to participate.

"The kids get to enjoy a fun weekend and see some of the best basketball players, including some that someday they're going to see in the NBA."