Joel Watts is the smallest player on St. Rita’s roster, but the 5-foot-11 sophomore guard isn’t afraid to battle big guys for rebounds.
In addition to his game-high 15 points Friday, Watts had eight rebounds, including two huge boards in the final minute to help the visiting Mustangs hold on for a 48-45 Catholic League Blue win over Brother Rice.
“Coach (Gary DeCesare) always emphasizes rebounding,” Watts said. “Getting a chance to go against guys almost a foot taller than me in practice helps a lot. I can’t do anything about being shorter. I still have to go battle for those rebounds.”
Jordan Matthews added 14 points and seven rebounds and Jeremiah Oden scored 10 points for St. Rita (13-10, 3-2), which capped a big week. The Mustangs also beat Marist in overtime Tuesday.
Marquise Kennedy finished with 14 points and six rebounds for Brother Rice (15-9, 3-4). Brendan Coghlan scored 11 points.
The Crusaders’ only lead of the night was 3-0. After falling behind by 13 in the third quarter, though, they fought back.
Rice had three potential game-tying shots in the final minute but missed them all. On the first two, Watts was there to come down with rebounds in traffic. The third chance came when Kennedy missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Watts also hit a big free throw with 18 seconds to go for the final point of the game.
“Joel is doing a lot of different things for us,” DeCesare said. “He’s scoring, rebounding, defending. He missed our preseason conditioning recovering from knee surgery, so he’s starting to get into shape now.”
Watts had the hot hand early, scoring 12 points in the first half. St. Rita led 29-25 at halftime and opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run to stretch the lead to 13.
Kennedy scored the final eight points of the third to get the Crusaders within 40-36.
Rice, though, couldn’t connect on a big shot late. The Crusaders shot 17-for-49 from the floor and just 6-for-28 from 3-point range. St. Rita shot 20-for-59.
Josh Boulanger added seven points and 13 rebounds for Rice.
“We were getting good looks on the threes and we just weren’t hitting them,” Brother Rice coach Bobby Frasor said. “I feel like we keep coming close in these big games and coming up a little short. That comes down to toughness.”
Matthews hopes the Mustangs are headed in the right direction for good.
“We’re playing together now,” he said. “We were a bit down on ourselves earlier in the year, but we believe in ourselves now.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
