He wasn’t having the best shooting night, but Emmanuel Joe-Samuel heated up in the fourth quarter.
With the ball in his hands and coming off a screen, his spot at the top of the arc was wide open. The sophomore guard stepped into his shot and …
Splash.
Joe-Samuel’s third 3-pointer of the fourth proved to be the game-winner as host Paul VI held on over the final 1:10 for a 53-51 Olympic National victory over rival Camden Catholic before a packed house on Thursday night.
There was no fear. There was no hesitation. Joe-Samuel saw an opening and he took it.
“I wasn’t playing the best, shooting-wise, the first three quarters, but coach (Tony Devlin) kept saying we believe in you,” Joe-Samuel said. “After you see a couple of shots go in, your confidence goes up. I know my team fully trusts me and I was able to hit the shot.
“Adiel (Fred) set a good screen and the shot was open. I took it. I know my spots on the floor and I’ve practiced that shot a bunch of times.”
Paul VI (13-8) avenged its 61-59 loss to the Irish back on Jan. 10. The Eagles have won eight of their last 11 games.
With the outcome hanging in the balance, Devlin wanted to see the ball in Joe-Samuel’s hands.
“That’s what we want,” Devlin said. “He’s our guy.”
Camden Catholic (14-4) didn’t take its first lead until Olsegun Adeleye connected on his second basket of the fourth with 6:39 to play. It was part of a 9-0 run to open the quarter.
Paul VI scored the next six points, tying the score at 45-all on Joe-Samuel’s first 3-ball of the fourth at the 3:30 mark. The Irish would hold a 51-47 lead with two minutes left.
Joe-Samuel cut the deficit to 51-50 at 1:47 and then put the Eagles ahead to stay with 1:10 remaining.
“Playing your rival school, there’s always high intensity,” Joe-Samuel said. “It doesn’t matter who’s ranked over who, it’s going to be a close game. You’re always going to play hard.
“Playing them is always a championship-type game for us. It’s a special something when you play your rival school.”
Joe-Samuel finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Eli added 12 points and 10 boards, while Judah Hidalgo also had 12 points to go along with five steals.
Tobe Nwobu led all scorers with 22 points for Camden Catholic. Luke Kennevan added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Andrew Crawford chipped in six assists.
Camden Catholic came into the night with wins in four of the last five matchups.
Paul VI has played some pretty good teams in recent games. After a rough start, things are starting to come together.
“We talk about three things - there’s passion, poise and precision,” Devlin said. “Our passion has been a 10 over the last three weeks against everyone we’ve played. Our poise and precision is still low and we talk about it every week. Can we get better grades in those areas? If we can fix that, we can do a good job.
“The guys are understanding everybody’s role now. Everyone is not a 3-point shooter or an inside guy. We have to realize going into these games, where’s my strengths and weaknesses? In the last 10 days, we’ve played some really good teams. We’ve seen all different styles and hopefully that will help us down the stretch. As bad as we started the year, now they can write their own ticket.”
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Kevin Minnick covers South Jersey boys basketball. He can be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kminnicksports
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