Hawks Open League Play With Win Over Conwell-Egan

St. Joe’s Prep defeated Conwell-Egan 69-62 in overtime on Friday. This was a contest between two teams that are fighting for Philadelphia Catholic League supremacy. It was a fight from the very beginning and Egan did not give up even when down 18 points in the second half against the Hawks. The Prep showed their guts and grit throughout the game, proving to the audience they can handle adversity. This game marked the first ever PCL matchup for the Hawks first-year Head Coach, Chris Clark ‘04. 

The first half seemed to pale in comparison to the action seen in the second half. The game started with both teams trying to get the edge over each other in transition. The Hawks and Eagles both glided down the floor trying to make layups over each other to gain the momentum. The Hawks had multiple points in the game where they looked better in transition, or in half court offense. The first quarter was led by Justin ‘28 and Julain McKie ‘28, as Julian was able to finish at the rim while Justin dazzled the audience with his perimeter shooting. 

The second quarter was Hawks dominance throughout. The Prep ran through Egan with easy layups in transition while also dominating shooting from three. Justin ‘28 was easily making deep threes that left everyone with a loss for words while Julian ‘28 was flying through the air for offensive rebounds. There was a point in the second quarter where the Prep were shooting 90% from the field. Through their dominance, the Hawks led 39-25 over Egan going into halftime.

The third quarter was a complete turnaround from the second as Egan were the ones to take control coming out of the break. “I thought they did a really good job pressuring us full court, creating some turnovers and they were able to get out in transition. They made some threes, I mean they’re a really good offensive team,” Coach Clark ‘04 said when asked what Egan did to make a comeback in the second half. “All five guys on the floor for them can make plays and make decisions and score. So we knew we had our hands full,” Clark ‘04 continued on to say. 

He was right in his assessment of the Eagles as they came out with fire as they were very aggressive on defense and attacked the rim offensively. Myles Moore ‘27 made his presence felt as he made tough mid-range jump shots and was able to get to the rim. Justin Bobb ‘26 was the man to get all the rebounds for Egan and he made his post work look easy. Some timeouts from Coach Clark ‘04 and his ability to gameplan on the fly helped the Hawks stay afloat throughout the third quarter. 

“Nothing seems to be falling for the Prep” is what Anthony Sorgi ‘28 said on the WSJP broadcast early in the fourth quarter. He seemed to be telling the truth as the Hawks could not get into a groove in the final quarter of action. However, Justin ‘28 and Julian ‘28 were able to help the Prep keep it close and as the Hawks were down one, when all hope seemed lost, Alonzo Ellis ‘28 stole the ball away on an inbound pass and gave the Prep one last chance with 30 seconds remaining. Myles Peterson ‘27 recovered an offensive rebound and scored it with under a minute remaining to take the lead. Egan was then able to tie the game with a free throw and we were headed to overtime. 

When asked about what the Hawks did in overtime to walk away with the victory, Clark ‘04 stated, “Yeah, you know what? To their credit, we're growing as a team, right? A lot of these guys, this is their first time being in this situation. This is my first time, right? Being in this situation. So I just wanted them to remain calm, right? just remain calm and let's focus on, you know, just the next possession, each possession at a time. and I thought we did that down the stretch. We made some big free throws. You know, we got the ball to Justin and Julian. I thought Luke [Maransky] had a big three late. So it was a total team effort and I'm really proud of our guys, how we handled, you know, the overtime.” 

In overtime, the Hawks were able to get the momentum back and put the game away. The Prep were up two with about 1:30 remaining when Luke Maranasky ‘28 nailed a corner from the right wing to put the Hawks up by five. The Prep never looked back as missed shots from Egan and clutch free throws all around gave the Prep a victory to open PCL play. 

The game was dominated by Justin ‘28 and Julian ‘28. Justin ‘28 finished the game with 25 points on 67% shooting while Julian ‘28 had 19 points on 54% shooting and ten rebounds. “My dad and my coaches just screaming at me to get every offensive rebound,” Julian ‘28 noted when asked his motivation for grabbing all but one offensive rebound for the team. The Hawks will play Gonzaga College High School (DC) on Sunday and on Monday against Bonner-Prendergast. 

Clark ‘04 noted how tough it would be on back-to-back days against tough competition as he stated “Yeah, I'm an idiot. I'm an absolute idiot for scheduling this game. You know, during the PCL [season]. So, you know what? we just take it one game at a time. You know, we'll talk about Gonzaga tomorrow in film session. We may talk about Bonner as well, but just take it one game at a time. I mean, every game from here on out is going to be a tough game. I think our guys know that. and we just have to, you know, control what we can control and just continue to, you know, work at it, watch film, get better, grow, and play Prep basketball.” 

The Hawks got a win that they may not have gotten in November or early December, showing the PCL teams and fans that they are getting better at the right time.