By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher ABSECON — The Holy Spirit boys basketball team still has a long way to go before head coach Jamie Gillespie knows who and what the Spartans will be all about this season. One thing he knows for sure, however, is that his team is resilient. With Junior Saintel and Uudi Collier both graduated, and Leon Daniels transferred out to Atlantic City, Holy Spirit has several new faces in its starting lineup. But one thing Gillespie can count on every night is his team showing heart and hustle, which is what the Spartans did on Saturday night during a thrilling, 56-52 comeback win over Rancocas Valley in a matchup that has become a budding rivalry during the past several seasons. “Rancocas Valley is always a quality program. Jay (Flanagan) always does a terrific job. They are always well prepared and well-disciplined, so anytime you play them it’s never going to be easy. And we’ve had a bunch of games against them over the years that have been like this,” Gillespie said. “We went up there last year and won in the same kind of back-and-forth game. It’s a nice, kind of distance rivalry that we’ve developed. This is probably the fifth or sixth year in a row that we’ve played them, so it’s a nice relationship we’ve built. They are a class act and a quality program.” 
Holy Spirit’s Jordan Taylor blocks a shot by Rancocas Valley’s Shaun Bradley during the Spartans’ 56-52 win over the Red Devils on Saturday night in Absecon. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) The Red Devils (3-2) led by just one, 29-28, at halftime, but started to take control in the third quarter. Holy Spirit (4-0) trailed 43-34 heading into the fourth, but began to slowly chip away, using its pressure defense to score in transition while also not allowing the Red Devils to set up their half-court offense and get off 3-point shots. Jordan Taylor put back a missed shot to cut the deficit to 48-44, then John Middleton scored on a layup in transition to cut Rancocas Valley’s lead to just two points. Taylor stole the ensuing inbounds pass and scored to tie the game at 48 with 3:23 left, forcing a timeout by the Red Devils and sending the crowd into a frenzy. On its next possession, Middleton made a great entry pass to a wide-open Tyler Jones, and Jones finished at the rim to put Holy Spirit up 50-48. The Spartans never trailed again, as buckets by Middletown and Jones sandwiched a pair of free throws by Taylor to put Holy Spirit up 56-50. “That was a tough game,” said junior C.J. Barnes, who scored just 10 points but had an outstanding game defensively as well as handling the ball at the point. “It was just effort. We just had to pick up on the defensive end, and the offensive end as well.” Barnes said having guys such as Taylor and Jones down low certainly makes the job of the guards a little bit easier. “They give us a benefit down there, but it’s still an all-around game. Everybody has to contribute, get rebounds, box out,” Barnes said. Gillespie said Barnes is the guy who makes Holy Spirit go, and that was evident early in the fourth quarter as he led the charge when the Spartans began to execute their pressure defense much better than they had in the first half. 
Spirit’s C.J. Barnes tries to get around Rancocas Valley’s Darius Dooley during the Spartans’ win. “We pressured in the first half, we just weren’t moving very well. We waited to start moving our feet and getting after it more. We, as a staff, didn’t wait. We started pressing early in the first quarter, it’s just much more effective when you move your feet and you actually play,” Gillespie said. “C.J. is the glue that holds it all together. He’s a terrific defensive player and he battles on the glass, handles the ball. He typically shoots the ball well. Tonight wasn’t one of his better shooting nights, but he always does a good job for us. Jordan and John both came up with big fourth quarters. Jordan, in particular, gave us a lot of energy, tipped a lot of (passes), that kind of thing. We were lucky tonight. We were out-played, out-coached, a lot of things.” Jones led the Spartans with 17 points and Taylor chipped in with 16, while Middleton finished with nine. Adam Perry led the Red Devils with 16 points and Brenden Ruby hit a couple of 3-pointers and finished with 15. Darius Dooley, Jordan Cole and Shaun Bradley each had six points for Rancocas Valley. Gillespie said he was happy to escape with a win, but knows there will be plenty to correct at the Spartans’ next practice. “We’re a long way away from where we want to be. Sometimes games like this you take a lot out of it. We’re going to watch film (Sunday) and we’re fortunate to win, it’s probably a little easier to take it out of it feeling a little bit better about yourself,” Gillespie said. “The one thing I’ll take as a positive is the resiliency. Twice we were down double-digits and twice we came all the way back, and that’s not easy to do. It would have been easy when we were down nine in the third quarter to pack it in, and we didn’t. So that’s certainly the positive and the silver lining in it, but there’s certainly a lot of work to do. Said Barnes,”We know that the effort that we have, it shows. Anytime we go down, we can pick ourselves right back up. It’s just effort, that’s it. They were a tough team, they are talented and athletic, but we can play with the best of them.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Hoop Jam 2015: Holy Spirit shows resiliency in exciting comeback win over Rancocas Valley
