Hawks Suffer First PCL Defeat of Season

FRANCISVILLE, PA – Bonner-Prendie defeated St. Joe’s Prep 71-53 on Monday in a contest that was never particularly close. The Friars have made their case for being one of the best in the entire Philadelphia Catholic League, while the Hawks suffered a really tough defeat to Bonner and will look to bounce back in PCL play.

The game started on very unusual circumstances, as the Hawks were called for a technical foul as Theron Morris ‘26 hung on the rim pregame, which led to Kam Jackson ‘27 making a free throw before the ball was even tipped-off. After the free throw, Bonner had the ball and after the missed layup by Korey Francis ‘27, Julian McKie ‘28 received a pass off a screen to get an and one opportunity. From this point on, it was all Bonner when it came to scoring. Jackson got downhill and got fouled which led to him making two free throws. As the Hawks inbounded the ball, Francis stole the ball from Luke Maransky ‘28 and whipped it inside to Jackson for an easy layup. The connection between Francis and Jackson in this game showed a lot and when asked about that, Jackson said, “Me and Korey just play off each other, we feed off each other, we just play together, we know we can trust each other in any type of situation. So, just trusting each other in any moment of the game.” 

While Julian made a layup to cut the lead to two, Francis came down the other end and drilled a three at the top of the key. Two more threes from Jackson and Jakeem Carroll ‘27 opened up the lead to 11 with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter. Jayden Howlett ‘27 was able to add four points of his own but Francis was able to get a layup and transition and Carroll added another three-pointer. To end the quarter, Jackson broke through the Hawks 3-2 defense and dropped in a teardrop floater to end the quarter with Bonner leading 24-14.

Both teams exchanged baskets to start the quarter but the Hawks had problems finishing at the rim in this game as Myles Peterson ‘27 missed an open layup that would have resulted in the start of a small run for the Prep. 

Howlett was able to make a contested layup but Bonner continued to dominate from three as Jackson nailed a deep three-pointer to make the game 31-18 Bonner. After another exchange in layups from both teams, Carroll once again hit a three-pointer. The Hawks had not taken many outside shots up to this point and Bonner was making just about every one they took. No one would score for the rest of the quarter as the end of the half was highlighted by another missed open layup from the Hawks as Julian couldn’t finish with just over a minute left. The quarter ended with Bonner taking a comfortable 36-22 lead.

The third quarter opened with Bonner continuing to dominate from beyond the arc as Carroll opened up the half with another three. It looked like Bonner had the advantage from the tip and coming out of the half and when asking Coach Chris Clark ‘04 about that, he stated, “I mean to their credit, they made shots early. Number two, Jackson, Francis, number four, they did a really great job of coming out, moving the ball, playing with great energy, they shared the ball. They made shots early.” He was definitely right as the Hawks looked a bit tired and didn’t communicate well in the second half. 

Jackson found Aydin Scott off a screen for an easy layup that made the lead a game high up to that point, 17. While Will Lesovtiz ‘26 provided the Prep with an and one, Francis easily responded by slashing through the Hawks defense and finishing at the rim. Bonner continued to dominate from there as the Hawks added three free throws from Howlett and Justin, but Carroll soon made another three while Francis and Jackson were both able to find Masen Price for easy layups. Francis and Jackson each made baskets while Francis added on two more free throws inside the last two minutes as the quarter came to a close with Bonner leading 57-34.

While the Hawks added on 21 points in the fourth quarter, Bonner was able to drill the clock as they held the ball a lot and were still able to score with the game almost being at rest. The Prep tried their best to double team Francis but the officials were calling fouls that would send him to the line. The Prep tried to intentionally foul with a minute remaining but were not able to erase the huge deficit as Bonner was able to get the victory. 

Bonner improved to 8-2 on the year with a 2-0 record in PCL play. When Jackson was asked about how Bonner is going to gameplan for a tough PCL schedule going forward, he noted, “Just taking it one day at a time. We’re not worried about 3-4 games, five games at a time, just taking that step, next game we got Judge. Just focusing this week, preparing, and getting ready.” 

The Prep fall to 5-6 on the year and 1-1 in PCL action. When asked about their next game and their gameplan vs Archbishop Wood, Coach Clark said, “I don’t have one yet [a gameplan], but, we’ll watch film and talk about it as a staff. I know they are a good team, they got a couple really good players, a terrific coach. We got our hands full, but we’ll be prepared for Friday. We’ll come out and be ready to go.” 

Both teams have a very tough schedule ahead, but based on how PCL standings could play out, we may see these teams play each other again further down the road.