Friendship Collegiate Has Become Established

Ron Bailey, Publisher

March 2, 2008 – Northeast, D.C.’s Friendship Collegiate (30-6) boys basketball team has made a name for itself in local hoop circles, defeating National Christian and almost doing the same to Montrose Christian – not bad for a charter school that occupies the former Woodson Middle School building. With only two games left, coach Clinton Crouch’s crew is still grinding, having defeated Princeton Claremont (MD) 62-50 Saturday.

The game was a see-saw affair; Friendship battled back from a 33-16 second half deficit to go ahead 36-33 with 1:45 to go in the third quarter, a lead the Knights would not relinquish.

Clinton Crouch is not hesitant to teach his players the game.

Having played a majority of zone defense in the first half, including various presses such as a 2-1-2 – Crouch opted for a man-to-man alignment in the third quarter. “We wanted to exploit their depth (lack thereof)…We played all man basically in the second half”, said the coach of his alignment change, a switch that brought about the desire result, and was instrumental in Friendship’s comeback.

As was his substitution pattern. “I just had to play the guys that were being tougher today”, stated Crouch of his roster maneuvering, resulting in numerous players receiving playing time. Adding to the necessity of doing so was the fact his team “was missing three starters”.

Louis Bell (5) and Timmone Whatley (3) and Jeffrey James (33) jostle for position.

The Knights’ list of leading scorers speak to Crouch’s strategy: While only senior guard Anthony Clagett (18 points) dropped double figure points, three players, seniors Amonta Petty and Marquelle Owens, along with sophomore Lou Bell scored eight. Senior Jamal Pitt contributed four, all from the charity strip, and was instrumental in making plays down the stretch.

Claremont (18-6) was led by senior Beloved Rodgers and first year student Joe Lundy, contributors of 20 and 11 points respectively.

“The game just got away from us. They played with a lot of speed and aggression” said Claremont’s coach, Vann Whitfield. The Storm will next appear in Tennessee for the National Association of Christian Athletes Tournament this week.

Friendship also concludes its season this week, today taking on KIMA, and Wednesday again seeing National Christian.

Having just assumed leadership of the program in 2006, Crouch, a veteran of the D.C. area coaching ranks with Friendly High School (MD), has taken the program a long way – the 30 win plateau is nothing to overlook. The best is seemingly yet to come.

Shout-Out: Special thanks to Ms. Reynolds, a Friendship staff member who patiently supplied stats for this article.