St. Joe’s Prep’s Jalen Harper, left, goes up for a shot on Archbishop Ryan’s Thomas Sorber. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)
By Owen McCue
Last season, Jalen Harper likely wouldn’t have been in the position.
A rebound in the air and the Catholic League’s best big man trying to grab an offensive board for the other team in a one-possession game… the 6-foot-8 Tristen Guillouette would have been there to clean it up for St. Joe’s Prep instead.
There’s no Guillouette this season for the Hawks, leaving the 6-foot-3 Harper to fend off the Philadelphia Catholic League’s giants by himself. Late in Tuesday night’s PCL opener against Archbishop Ryan, Harper boxed out Georgetown-bound big man Thomas Sorber and skied for the ball. One possession later he was in defense on the game sealing steal before knocking down the put-away free throws in a 57-52 win.
He finished with 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter of the victory, coming up “big” on both sides of the floor for an undersized Hawks group.