Smith dominates as Notre Dame coaches look on - News Sentinel

Notre Dame football assistant coaches Bob Diaco and Mike Elston had to have liked what they saw in Bishop Luers junior Jaylon Smith on Friday. Knight boy’s basketball coach James Blackmon certainly did.

Smith powered his way to a game-high 34 points to lead Luers to a 75-58 Summit Athletic Conference win over previously unbeaten Northrop.

The victory places the Knights (9-3, 4-0 SAC) in sole possession of first place in the conference.

“It’s a big win,” Smith said. “But we have to keep our eye on the task.”

The Fighting Irish coaches were at the game to watch Smith, who is a coveted football player. However, rather than reporting back to Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly, after watching Smith’s best performance of his career on the hardwood, they might want to alert Irish basketball coach Mike Brey.

Smith scored on drives, in the post, off of rebounds, at the free throw line and even got a bucket off of inbounds play at one point. He scored 14 points in the first half, which is just a couple shy of his game average, and kept on producing through the final 16 minutes of play as the Knights ran away from the fourth-ranked Bruins (12-1, 3-1).

“I (coached) Jaylon Smith when he was in the fourth grade,” Blackmon said. “So I know that Jaylon Smith is very talented.”

Bishop Luers relies heavily upon sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr., as it should. The coach’s son entered Friday’s game averaging nearly 30 points per game. However, it was clear early on the Smith was going have an impact as he defended well (he finished with 10 rebounds) and found scoring opportunities within the offense on put backs, dump-downs and other assorted manners.

“This is James’ sport and it’s his team,” Smith said of his teammate. “I have to do a job as a role player. Whenever James is off, I have to step up to the task.”

Blackmon finished with 16 points, but it wasn’t so much that he was “off,” it’s just that the Knights realized that Northrop had no answer for the strength of Smith down low, so why go away from that?

The game was close into the final period and at one point was knotted at 51. However, the Bruins went cold and the Knights found multiple opportunities to drive and get fouled or get the ball to Smith, who would then draw a foul. Luers shot well at the line, something that has plagued them for much of the season, and out-scored the Bruins 24-7 over the final minutes.

In an age when elite athletes tend to drop all sports but one in order to maximize their potential in their best sport, Smith is a throwback of sorts. He loves to play basketball and wants to enjoy this opportunity for a couple of more years before he is forced to become a single-sport athlete.

“You get people telling you not to play basketball and focus on football,” Smith said. “But I realize that I only go through high school once and I want to cherish every moment. And I’m pretty good at basketball, so I just try to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

Dwight Richards added a dozen points in the win, while Northrop was paced by Bryson Scott (18 points), Brenton Scott (17) and Cory Womack (11).

The Knights are now one game ahead of the Bruins and Concordia Lutheran (9-3, 3-1) in the league standings and will host Blackhawk Christian tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Northrop will travel to Bishop Dwenger on Friday at 8 p.m.