The trio of Jason Fredericks, Jude Rottmann, and Brandon Pickett combined for 66 points for North Catholic in their 80-65 win over Gateway.
North Catholic is the clear favorite in the 4A Classification and they showed it from the jump tonight. They came out with a full-court press that they kept up throughout the entire game.
Gateway senior, Mykel Bruce-McCrommon, got the scoring started immediately in this one. He’s one of the top prospects in the WPIAL for a reason. The 6’6” wing has the size of a forward and the skillset of a guard. He’s generated some D1 interest in the past year from a number of schools including Pitt, RMU, and Navy.
One half of North Catholic’s senior duo, Jason Fredericks, got going early in the first with back to back pull-up jumpers and followed that up with a three as he had 7 points in just over three minutes.
It was a back and forth game early, but Fredericks’ torrid shooting continued as he drained two more triples, giving him 13 straight points and putting North Catholic up 17-9. The other half of North Catholic’s senior duo, Jude Rottmann, connected on two free throws late in the quarter for his first points of the contest.
With the seniors doing their part, freshman Brandon Pickett got in on the action with a steal and 4 straight points to give him 8 in the quarter and put North Catholic ahead 27-13 at the end of the first.
It was clear that North Catholic wanted to get off to a fast start. The press on defense and the pace on offense were too much for Gateway to handle in that first frame. Head Coach Jim Rocco spoke after the game about the importance of jumping out to an early lead saying, “I think it’s important for anybody in any sport to get out to an early lead. We’re just fortunate because we play so hard. We just play so hard and because of that level of effort and togetherness, I think we give ourselves opportunities”.
Gateway tightened things up a bit defensively in the second quarter, holding North Catholic scoreless for nearly three minutes before Fredericks got another bucket to take a 29-17 lead midway through the quarter.
Mykel Bruce-McCrommon got the steal and breakaway dunk to cut the lead to 10 and try to inject some momentum into this Gateway team, but North Catholic wouldn’t slow down as Rottmann sank two more free throws and Pickett banked in a three from the right wing.
Bruce-McCrommon scored again on the drive, but Fredericks fired right back to give him 17 points in the first half and put North Catholic ahead 36-21 with just over three minutes to go in the second quarter.
Bruce-McCrommon continued to be aggressive and effective in the quarter, doing the majority of his scoring inside as he notched two more buckets, giving him 14 points in the game, including 10 in the quarter.
Fredericks answered once again this time with a floater in the lane late in the half and North Catholic was ahead 42-30 at the break. Fredericks led all scorers with 19 at the half. Bruce-McCrommon had 14 for Gateway.
The third quarter was back and forth with Fredericks, Pickett, and Rottmann doing the majority of the scoring for North Catholic and Bruce-McCrommon and fellow senior, Jax Vovaris, handling the load for Gateway.
Pickett was really impressive in this one, showing his ability to score in a variety of ways, but he was especially good around the rim. When asked what gives him the confidence as a freshman to be such an effective scorer, Pickett said simply, “I work on it all the time”.
Gateway continued to battle throughout the third though as they headed into the final quarter trailing 59-49 with McCrommon up to 20 points and Vovaris at 16.
They cut the lead to single digits early in the fourth, but Jude Rottmann got the and-1 to go and get the lead back to double digits for North Catholic. Gateway’s Isaiah Allah answered with an and-1 one of his own as well.
Rottmann continued his big fourth quarter with another bucket and another and-1 to stretch the lead for North Catholic.
Pickett spun to the hoop and scored his 20th point of the night and sank two free throws shortly after to give him 22 in the game.
North Catholic stretched the lead to 18 late in the 4th quarter before both teams emptied their benches. North Catholic was the more aggressive team in all aspects of this game. They simply played faster and harder than Gateway in this one.
The North Catholic trio of Fredericks, Rottmann, and Pickett scored all but 14 of North Catholic’s 80 points tonight.
Coach Rocco spoke about his three stars after the game saying, “The three of them offensively just gel really well together. Their shot selection is awesome. Jason and Jude have been around. They’ve been through the deep runs in the state playoffs for three years, and they’re bringing Brandon along. Brandon is a special player, as are Jason and Jude.”
Fredericks finished with a game-high 25 points with Pickett and Rottmann chipping in 22 and 19 respectively. Bruce-McCrommon had 25 points for Gateway in the loss. Both teams are back in action Tuesday as the Gateway Holiday Tournament continues with North Catholic taking on West Mifflin and Gateway hosting Deer Lakes.