Allen leaves mark on Morris Catholic boys basketball

Before the start of the third practice of the year, Morris Catholic head coach Dave Grande typically holds a standards meeting. Led by the seniors, the team develops 13 or 14 standards to live by for the duration of the basketball season.

One of those standards, and probably the most important of them all, was trust.

For Grande and senior Amir Allen, trust came into play in Morris Catholic’s first game of the season at Hanover Park.

In a tight first half, Allen received his third foul and immediately was taken out of the game. One minute later, Grande went over to his 6-foot-7 center who was sitting on the bench and looked him straight in the eye.

“Can I trust you to play the rest of the game and play defense at a high level without fouling?” Grande said. “He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Yes coach, you can trust me,’ just like that without any hesitation.”

There were two Hanover Park defenders standing in front of Allen for the rest of the half, hoping he would commit an offensive foul, but he didn’t.

“I was in foul trouble,” Allen said. “I knew that wasn’t good because I’m usually the first scoring option. But it meant a lot that coach had the faith in me to start the second half, knowing that I wouldn’t foul.”

Trailing 25-21 at the half, Grande went over to Allen before the start of the third quarter and said, “Can I trust you to turn around, face your defender and shoot right over him?”

“If you watched the second half of that game,” Grande said. “He turned around on four or five different occasions and drained eight to 12-foot jump shots right over them.”

The 2015-16 All Daily Record Boys Basketball Player of the Year finished the game with 30 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Crusaders to a 67-52 come-from-behind win over the Hornets.

“The whole team was pumped during the whole game,” Allen said. “I believe it helped launch a great season. Looking at the team prior to the season, I knew we had potential to be great. I wanted to start off on a high note. I played my game in the second half, and did what I could and we came away with the win.”

It was a sign of things to come for Allen and the rest of the team.

Allen led the Crusaders to an 18-8 record and a third-straight NJAC-Indepedence title. Before his arrival, the program never won a conference championship in its 59-year history. He also led Morris Catholic to its first Morris County Tournament semifinal appearance since 1981. In Grande’s first two years as head coach, the Crusaders were 16-35. When Allen transferred from Randolph after his freshman year, the Crusaders went on to finish 50-31 over the next three years.

“He came in and made a difference from the beginning,” Grande said. “This year he matured greatly. His ball-handling got better. His defense got better. His shooting touch got better. He made our defense better. This is the best defensive team we had in five years. He blocked nearly five shots a game. His impact from that standpoint was really remarkable.”

Allen averaged 22.8 points, 13.2 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game, which were all county highs. His 1,468 career points are the most points by a Morris Catholic boys player since Mike Luzzi finished his four-year varsity career with 1,676 points in 2004. Allen is now third on the all-time Morris Catholic boys basketball scoring list.

“As a team, we worked together well,” Allen said. “Individually, I tried to do everything that I could night in and night out, to help us get a win each and every night. And I believe our record showed that.”

Allen still is deciding where he will continue his basketball career. He’s interested in Phillips Academy in Massachusetts and Concord Prep Academy in North Carolina. He also has interests in joining a Division I program, Niagara University.

But for now, Allen is most proud of the impact he’s had on the Morris Catholic program.

“I hope it leads to others joining in the future,” he said. “Hopefully, it can continue to get better over the years. I’d love to be remembered for my contributions to Morris Catholic, my hard work and will to win.”

Staff Writer Dan Canova: 862-240-2878;dcanova@gannettnj.com

 Allen’s highlighted games include:

Dec. 18 at Hanover Park – 30 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks, in a 67-52 win.

Dec. 23 at Whippany Park – 33 points, 20 rebounds, five blocks, in a 72-55 win.

Dec. 29 vs. West Milford in the JP Flynn Christmas Tournament – Allen scored his 1,000th career point, in a 77-53 win.

Jan. 19 at Morristown-Beard – 38 points, 19 rebounds, five blocks, in a 58-44 win.

Feb. 13 vs. Morristown-Beard – 29 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks, in a 60-56 MCT quarterfinal win.