Hawks Head Into Christmas With Winning Streak

PHILADELPHIA, PA – On Sunday, St Joseph’s Prep took home a 58-47 win over Parkland. This was a contest that was mostly St. Joe’s Prep from start to finish. The Prep were able to dominate on the offensive rebounding department and as a team, shot 50% from the field. This was a good test for the Hawks, but they made it look easy as they cruised to a victory. 

Both teams exchanged tons of missed shots in the first two minutes of the game. After two minutes and thirty seconds of no scoring, Myles Peterson ‘27 hit a jumper at the free throw line to give the Hawks their first points of the game. Parkland would put up a fight against the Prep in the first quarter as Blake Nassry ‘27 made a deep three to get things going for the Trojans. After another bucket from Peterson, Nassry continued to make his presence felt early as he hit a fadeaway jumper as well as two free throws to make the score 7-4 Parkland with 3:22 to go.

After a fadeaway made from Jude Ruisch ‘26, Julian McKie ‘28 hit a crossover and drained a three to get the Hawks within two. With a minute remaining, Jayden Howlett ‘27 got a steal and gave an outlet pass to Luke Maransky ‘28 in transition which led to him delivering a beautiful pass between two defenders to Will Lesovitz ‘26 who tied the game up at nine. None of the teams scored in the last minute which made the score 9-9 going into the second quarter. 

Parkland started off the second quarter with a Nassry free throw, but it was all St. Joe’s Prep moving forward. A Julian three started what was a 11-1 run for the Hawks before a Parkland timeout with 3:31 remaining. Out of the timeout, Howlett continued to put together a solid game for the Hawks as he was able to get an offensive rebound which then led to him sinking a fadeaway. The scoring reign continued for the Prep which was highlighted by a Lesovitz three and two free throws to end the half for Howlett. When it was all set and done, the Hawks had a commanding, 29-12 lead over Parkland.

The start of the third quarter did not go how the Hawks wanted it to start. Ruisch started the quarter with a three and Tyler Beck ‘26 started to get going as he made a three on the very next possession and then after a miss from the Prep, Beck made a tough and contested layup to cut the lead to nine. The Hawks were able to find their groove midway through the third quarter as Justin ‘28 and Lesovitz ‘26 made contested jump shots while Maransky ‘28 converted on multiple three-point shots which made the lead up to 16 with two minutes to go in the third quarter. Justin ‘28 and Peterson ‘27 each made two jumpers to end the quarter. While the Hawks gave up 15 points in the quarter, they also scored 17 of their own to make the lead 46-27 heading into the final quarter of action.

The fourth quarter started with a Lesovitz ‘26 and one opportunity which made the game look like it was put to bed. However, Parkland drilled two more shots which included a three from Beck ‘26 to go on a short run in the first two minutes. This is where Parkland would begin their press on the Hawks and the Prep took advantage of it as Justin McKie ‘28 and Lesovitz  were able to use the Trojans aggressiveness against them as Justin made a wide open three and Lesovitz made a layup on an offensive rebound, all but sealing a victory for the Hawks. Parkland was able to get ten more points in the final five minutes but the Hawks held the ball for most of the rest of the game.

This game puts the Hawks at 3-3 on the season and drops Parkland to 6-2. After the game, Coach Chris Clark ‘04 was asked how it felt to gain more momentum on the season and he stated “We just want to play Prep basketball. We talk about all the time playing to a standard, playing to our standards, not the scoreboards. But, I think it’s always good for these guys to get their first win at Kelly Fieldhouse.” The Hawks will take on The Tatnall School (DE) next on December 30.