Jay Jay Jordan-Berks Catholic

The Saints entered the District 3-4A semifinals against Littlestown with 172 3-pointers. No Berks Conference team has made more. Even great teams have off nights from beyond the arc, and that was the case on Monday at Lloyd Wolf Gymnasium. #1 seed Berks Catholic connected just twice from long range. The (22-4) Saints didn’t hit any triples after the first quarter. They had to find another way to win. The answer was Jay Jay Jordan attacking the Thunderbolts’ 1-3-1 half court defense. #4 seed Littlestown cut a 15-point third quarter deficit down to four on a nice low post move by Jake Bosley with just over six minutes remaining. Bosley, a 6’2 junior forward, is the only returning starter from a team that was the District 3-4A runner-up a season ago. After his basket made it 40-36, Jordan took over. The all-county guard came up with a steal and cruised in for a layup. The 5’10 junior point guard then found Aidan Sands for an easy bucket. Jordan followed that sweet dish with a layup and another pretty pass to Sands with a little over three and a-half minutes to go. That two minute burst by Jordan put Berks Catholic on top 50-41. Jordan told me that he likes to get his teammates involved. It’s something that longtime head coach Snip Esterly has been stressing. Jordan described their relationship as “tough love.” Esterly, who has 768 career wins over 33 years, gave Jordan a hug after the three-year starter exited the game. Ryan Koch’s layup with 1:45 to play gave the Saints a 52-43 edge. They advanced to Thursday’s District 3 championship with a 58-46 victory. Eight of Jordan’s game-high 21 points came in the final period. He said that playing at home takes his game to another level. Jordan mentioned that the Saints were focused on getting the top seed throughout the regular season. He bounced back after making just one shot and scoring six points in the quarterfinals versus ELCO. Jordan was in attack mode early against the (19-6) Thunderbolts. He had seven points in the first quarter and thirteen by halftime. Berks Catholic was in front 17-12 after the opening period and 31-21 at the break. The lead expanded to 38-23 midway through the third quarter after a three-point play by Koch. The 6’3 junior finished with fifteen points and Sands added ten before fouling out. Littlestown trailed 40-32 entering the fourth quarter. The Thunderbolts start three sophomores including 6’7 forward Christopher Meakin and 6’ point guard Zyan Herr. Meakin (14) and Herr (17) combined for 31 points. Herr erupted for eight points in the first quarter when he drilled two treys. Bosley chipped in with thirteen points. The young Thunderbolts went 17-25 from the free throw line, while the Saints were 8-10. Littlestown committed fifteen turnovers compared to eight for Berks Catholic. Jordan knows that they have to play better on Thursday when they battle third-seeded Middletown at the Giant Center in Hershey. That will be a 4:15pm tip. Middletown defeated #2 seed Trinity 63-49 in the semifinals. Finally, I asked Jordan about the 76ers acquiring James Harden. He’s a fan of the Knicks, but admitted that Harden is a great addition for Philadelphia. Jordan prefers watching college basketball over the NBA. I’m sure he also prefers gold medals to silver. Jordan and the Saints don’t have to wait long for their shot at a District championship.