Man in the middle: Before a raucous, sold-out crowd, Father Judge senior forward Pat Mulville (left) contributed 11 points and nine rebounds in a crucial late-season 46–35 win over rival Archbishop Ryan on the road. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA / TIMES PHOTO
At 6-foot-2, Pat Mulville is an undersized big man in the Catholic League, often charged with the thankless task of guarding the opposition’s tallest player. In a league this good, it’s a job that requires the senior forward to bring his hard hat into the lane for every game.
Not only that, but on a team full of talented guards, Mulville’s offensive skills often go unnoticed. However, the St. Timothy grade school product has gotten good at picking his spots … just ask the hundreds of spectators who packed Archbishop Ryan’s sold-out gym on Friday night.
In front of the rowdiest crowd either team has likely seen this season, Mulville was Judge’s coolest customer on the court, scoring 11 points and plucking nine rebounds in a 46–35 road win. The win was the Crusaders’ fifth in league play — the same number they won all of last season — with three to go, and Mulville’s contributions inside and outside the box score have gone a long way in pushing Judge toward the postseason (the Crusaders lost a pre-playoff contest to McDevitt last year).
“I just do whatever my team needs me to do to go out and win games,” Mulville said. “I try to listen to my coach. What he says goes, and other than that, my teammates did all of the work. It wasn’t one man’s effort … it was the whole team.”
Forgive Mulville for his modesty and unselfishness, but it’s kind of a theme on this Judge team, one that lacks a go-to “superstar player.” Senior Will Brazukas is one of the more seasoned point guards in the league, but as far as scoring goes, that changes on any given night. The Crusaders tend to ride the hot hand, and on Friday night, it was Mulville’s turn. In fact, in 19 total games this season (13 wins), not one Judge player averages more than 10 points per game — junior guard Quincy Reed tops the list at 9.9. In 10 league games, which Judge has aplit evenly, sophomore guard Marc Rodriguez averages 10.7 per game, followed by Brazukas at 10.6, Reed at 9.8 and junior sharpshooter Justin Fleming at 9.5. In those 10 league contests, there have been only three 20-point efforts, two from Fleming and one from Brazukas.
Point being, Judge’s balance yields success. Mulville averages around 5.5 points per game, and his two double-digit outputs — 11 against Ryan and 16 against McDevitt — resulted in Judge wins. Against Ryan, he showed smooth finesse in finishing layups around the rim. The Crusaders lost their first three league games but have won five of seven since, and according to head coach Sean Tait, that success has directly coincided with stronger play from Mulville.
“Honestly, our team is much better when Pat is playing the way he is,” Tait said. “In those first three league games, he’ll be the first to tell you he wasn’t playing great. The toughness, physicality and effort he brings was always there, but he wasn’t finishing, and we need him. We run a lot of plays for him in the high post, and he finds guys and makes the right decisions. Some days he might score 12, others he’ll only get four, but it goes beyond scoring.”
Mulville knows he doesn’t need to carry the offensive load for Judge to have success. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, and that’s been a major key to the Crusaders’ evolution into a stronger group in 2014–15.
“Pat accepts his role, and there aren’t many kids who are willing to do that, especially as a senior,” Tait said. “The offensive game is starting to come back to him, and he really plays within himself. Nobody really cares who scores the points on any given night, and that’s what makes our team special. It’s a life lesson they’ve all embraced. It’s been key to our success lately, and a big part of that has been Pat’s play.”
“My teammates and I pride ourselves on being scrappy,” Mulville added. “What helps us stay balanced is we’re a family of brothers. We fight all the time in practice, but when it’s game time, we all play hard and the fact that we’re family keeps us together. The guys next to me make me want to play harder out there.”
For Judge, the hard part is still yet to come. The team is 5–5, eighth in the current standings (the top 10 earn playoff berths), and the Crusaders still have league frontrunners Neumann-Goretti and Archbishop Carroll on the docket, in addition to bottom-dweller Cardinal O’Hara. Six wins would likely put Judge somewhere in the seven-to-nine range, meaning a first-round playoff game against Archbishop Wood or Bonner-Prendie is the most likely of scenarios. Judge can finish no lower than eighth if the team wants to host a postseason game.
“Early on, we said we wanted to be a playoff team, which we pretty much are right now,” Tait said. “And two, it would be nice to have a home playoff game, and we’re still in nice position to do that. You win that home playoff, you’re in the quarters and a game away from the Palestra. We know we’re going to have to beat a Neumann, Carroll or Roman to get there, and if we can get to that game, anything can happen on any given night. We’ll see if we can improve our situation from here on out.”
As a senior, Mulville is having a blast in helping his team motor toward the postseason, but he knows he and his teammates have miles to go before the job is finished.
“Beating Ryan is always great, but after every game, win or loss, we look at it as we’re 0–0 the rest of the way,” Mulville said. “Whether I was a freshman or senior, I’d want to be out there playing with these guys as hard as I am right now. I’m having a ton of fun. We really are a family, and I wouldn’t want to be out there with anybody else for my senior year.” ••
