Former Cardinals reaching new heights at Lourdes

By: 
Yaneek Smith

Former Cardinal Stritch basketball players Joey Holifield and Little Anderson have taken different paths to Lourdes University.

Holifield attended Oakland University for a year before transferring to play for the Gray Wolves, and Anderson has attended Lourdes for all three years of his collegiate career.

Lourdes is a private Franciscan university located in Sylvania. The campus covers 127 acres and has nearly 1,300 students.

Holifield and Anderson, both of whom are 6-foot-2, are known to area fans for leading the Cardinals to the state semifinals three years ago under the guidance of current St. Francis coach Jamie Kachmarik. During the run to the final four, Anderson and Holifield were instrumental in helping Stritch win the regional title. 

Anderson scored 23 points in the Cardinals’ 68-58 win over Coldwater in the regional finals, and two games before that, Stritch beat Genoa, 55-44, in double overtime and Holifield led all scorers with 16 points in the dramatic district final victory.

Now they are having success playing together again at Lourdes. Until recently, the Wolves had set a school record 13-game winning streak and currently finds itself 18-5 and 10-5 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. The Wolves are 2½ games out of first place, which is currently held by Indiana Tech.

Holifield is averaging 15.9 points, which is first on the team, and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 54.9% from the field. He’s also shooting 82.6% from the free-throw line. 

Anderson, meanwhile, is averaging 12.8 points with four rebounds while shooting 46.1% from the floor. He has been a steady contributor during his time in Sylvania, averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds last season and 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds as a freshman.

“The biggest thing is that they’re both great kids. Before I got them, they were well-coached kids. They have a great understanding of the game,” said Lourdes coach Dennis Hopson. “They’re two kids that I can trust who can get the job done on and off the court. Little was my first recruit and he was an All-Freshman (WHAC player), and then second team in the league and first team all defense. They come with a great understanding of the game, and most importantly, they’re great kids.”

Hopson, who holds a 47-30 (.610) record in his third season with the team, says they fit into the  cerebral nature of the college game.

“It’s about having the right mental (frame of mind) and the right mindset. The game is played from the neck up, and the guys have to understand the mental side of what’s going on. Every game is different, you’ve got to understand the game plan, and you’ve got to understand who needs to be stopped,” Hopson said. 

“If we want to fare well in these last five games, we need to be on the same page. We need to grow as individuals and grow as a team. The other thing is, players need to hold each other accountable. I think it’s big that you have players who will hold each other accountable.”

 

Inside-out basketball

Holifield and Anderson are both in the starting lineup, as is 5-10 guard N’Keeley Elmore (4.3 pts.), 6-6 forward/center McRay White (14.4 pts., 7.9 reb.) and 6-6 forward/center Nick Welch (14.5 pts., 9.4 reb.).

The Wolves are averaging 84 points per game, good for 18th in the country, and shooting 49.6% from the floor, 14th in the NAIA. They are allowing 66.8 points per game and opponents are shooting 40.7% from the field.

“We play inside-out basketball,” Hopson said. “We take advantage of the weakest defender, and if you send a double team, we’ll kick it out of the post.”

But if Hopson’s team is going to make a run in the tournament, it’ll have to win the fight on the defensive end.

“It’s a big part of our DNA. In order to be successful, you’ve got to be able to stop the ball. We’re pretty good on the offensive end. On the defensive end, they understand what we’re doing, but it’s a big commitment, and it takes a lot of will to want to defend,” said Hopson. 

“The last two games we’ve lost, we haven’t defended well or scored the ball well. At the end of the day, you want to defend the ball, because there’s so much that you can do if you get stops — steals, easy baskets in transition. Unfortunately, I’m not happy with how we defended the last two games, but we’ll get it back. I’m big on doing your job.”

During the 13-game winning streak, Lourdes won all but one of its games by double digits. The highlight of the run came in the 12th consecutive win, which broke the school record, came on a layup by Holifield with 9.7 seconds to play to give the Wolves a 65-64 victory over Rochester (Michigan).

As for Hopson, he is known to many in the area for his success at both Bowsher High School and Ohio State University, where he is still the school’s all-time leading scorer. He also holds the single-season scoring record, which was set in 1987. 

Hopson was then drafted by the New Jersey Nets and won a championship alongside Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls in 1991. Hopson then played overseas before retiring in 2000. He coached at Northwood University in West Palm Beach under legendary coach Rollie Massimino from 2007-09, and returned to Ohio to coach with Louis Orr at Bowling Green until 2014.

“I think the biggest enjoyment is doing something that I love to do and I’m doing it in my hometown. I can come home to my family and sleep in my own bed. That’s probably the biggest plus for me and it breaks up some of the stress of a coach,” said Hopson. 

“I’ve done it so long as a player and as a coach — I have been away from home since I was 18-years-old. It makes it a lot easier when you can do something you love to do where you love doing it.”

 

 

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