John Shepard Classic
2007 John Shepard Classic Results
Great Tournament All!
 Message from Tournament Director Peter Corrado:
The 2007 John Shepard Classic is in the books! In my six years directing the tournament, this one goes down as having gone the most smoothly. Part of that may be a result of having 8 fewer teams than last year, but that is certainly not the main reason. There were some very close, very competitive games. For whatever reason, there seemed to be an added measure of sportsmanship and camaraderie. With the exception of a few technical fouls, mostly the result of heated competition, there were no incidents of poor sportsmanship, or any game or season ending injuries. Many noted soreness as a result of playing three games in 3 days. I’m not convinced that some of that wasn’t a result of post-game activities from the night before!
Tournament Highlights
1962-65 vs. 1968-72. A see-saw battle from the start. With 68-72 down by two and only seconds on the clock, they manage to get the length of the floor on the inbounds play and Bob Lester ’69 is fouled on the lay-up attempt. He goes to the line for two. First free throw is money but the second rims out only to be tipped up and off the rim as time runs out. 1962-65 survives their first game with a 47-46 victory and ultimately sweeps 3 games to earn the title in the Legends Pool.
In Lower Gold action, 1973 brought their regular contingency of a dozen or more players to win the pool, but not before they were defeated by a strong game from 1977. Dick Hartung’s 18 points for ’73 weren’t enough to stop Pat Wilson and Bernie Walsh who each scored twelve for ’77. 1973 managed to win their other two games while ’77 struggled.
First round action in the Lower Cardinal Pool pitted 1979-80 against a strong 1982-84 squad. 79-80 found themselves down by as many as 15 in the second half before Mark Santangelo ’79 began to find his range. He finished with 24 points in the 66-61 overtime win. Fred Winter ’82 had an impressive performance with 18 points. 1979-80 went on to win all three of their games to earn the championship.
In Upper Bracket play there was, unfortunately, a little less parity as a result of fewer teams participating. 1985-86 and 1988 were not making any excuses, though, as they played teams many years their junior. 1985-86 was even at the half in their opening game with 2001, who were still in diapers when 85-86 was graduating (sorry guys).
But youth and a deep bench proved to be the difference in the second half, as the very athletic ’01 squad went on to win 68-52 spreading points pretty evenly among themselves, on their way to the championship game.
The 3 best games in the bracket all included 1999. Much to their chagrin, they only managed to come out on top in one. 1988 vs. 1999 was simply great basketball! It ended 92-91 after 5 overtimes! It was a shootout from the start. Seven players from ’99 spread out the scoring, five of whom scored 15 points or more. But it wasn’t enough by one point as Matt Stahl ’88 poured in 32 points and Paddy Ryan added nineteen to eke out the win.
The next night ‘99 faced yet another formidable foe in 1996. The basket was looking as big as the ocean for Ryan Johnson ’96, as he found himself “in the zone” and scored from everywhere on his way to 49 points, including eight 3-pointers! With only five players, ’96 found just enough energy to win 81-78 in regulation.
In their final game, 1999 might have thought they caught a break going up against
1985-86 who were nearly 15 years older. 85-86 would have none of that. They were anxious to show their mettle. After two hard fought losses they, too, were looking for a win. It was another great game! Phil Kent ‘83 and John Miller ‘85 each scored 26 points for the 85-86’ers but came up just short in an 88-86 loss. Jason Penwell ’99 hit for 23, including seven buckets beyond the 3-point arch. Casey Sciaraffo ‘99 led both squads with 28 and Matt Gruhler ‘99 added 17.
The battle for third place put the Ram squads of 1988 against 1998. Both teams looking to redeem an earlier loss came out ready to play. Experience got the better of youth as 1988 prevailed in a 72-67 bout. Kyle Coad ‘98 led all scorers with 26 as
Paddy Ryan ’88 tallied 23 points for the third place winners.
Since they entered the JSC, 1995 has had two squads. The ’95 Cardinal team won 5 years in a row until their first defeat last year to 1998 who went on to win the 2006 Upper Bracket championship. This year, like a Phoenix, they rose from the ashes, reborn as one team combined. Though they were missing two notable athletes from the winning squad (Ron Perry & Mitch Naylor) they sported a deeper bench and added a familiar name in classmate Matt Santangelo '95 . The combination proved very successful as they fairly breezed through the bracket to earn their 6th championship in seven years. They walked away from their first game with a twenty point win 85-65 over 1996. The rest of the team showed balanced scoring behind Santangelo’s 27 points. Game two looked even easier as ’88 got off to a slow start and never quite found their rhythm against a tough ’95 defense. Again, Matt Santangelo led all scorers with 33 points.
Like some earlier games, the Championship Game was an exhibition of youth versus experience. 2001 brought a deep and athletic roster to bear on the older and more experienced ‘95ers. To no one’s surprise, 2001 put forth a great effort but it was experience, and Matt Santangelo’s 38 points, which proved to be the difference. Jeff Sammons added 23 for 1995. 2001 was led by Jimmy Sharp and Grayson Biggs with 23 and 22 points respectively.
The addition next year of four teams will go a long way to return parity to all of the brackets and pools involved. I look forward to your assistance and cooperation next March – April in preparation of the 28th Annual John Shepard Classic.
Thanks to everyone for your participation and for honoring the intent of the tournament, which is to enjoy some time together while raising money for the Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship. In that regard, it was once again a great success.
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