Do you want to know how good Julius Hodge is? Just ask him.

“I’m the best junior in the city,” Hodge said. “I think I proved I was one of the best juniors in the country.”

The scary thing is, his game is about as big as his ego. That was evident in St. Raymond’s 61-56 win over Rice on Sunday in the CHSAA A championship game, when Hodge scored a game-high 27 points for the Ravens.

“Julius has no fear,” said Ravens’ head coach Gary DeCesare, who has known Hodge since he was a sixth-grader at DeCesare’s basketball camp. “He thinks he’s better than everyone on the court and he plays that way.”

Don’t let Hodge’s words fool you. He may talk like he has nothing left to prove, but the rail-thin, 6-4 Hodge has a work ethic that would impress the most diligent gym rat.

“Every day, I make sure I put up more than 250 shots,” Hodge said. “I’m always working on my game.”

And he does mean always. One morning in January, DeCesare walked past the school’s gym at 7 a.m. — an hour before classes begin.

“I noticed someone was in there, so I checked it out,” DeCesare said. “Julius was in there, shooting. I asked him how he got in and he said the janitor let him in. I asked him where he got the ball and he said he brought his own ball. I’ve had a lot of hard workers play for me, but I had never seen that before.”

He might start to see more of it, considering how well Hodge has done this year. Hodge averaged a little over 20 points and seven rebounds per game, but never was more vital to the Ravens’ success than he was on Sunday.

After a disastrous offensive first half, Hodge warmed up and scored 21 points in the final two quarters. At halftime, Hodge wasn’t sure what kind of game he would wind up having, but he knew it wouldn’t be mediocre.

“I always know that I’m going to have either my best offensive game or my worst,” Hodge said. “No in-between. I’m gonna keep on shooting and hope they start to fall.”

Which they usually do. Although he missed 13 of his 20 field goal attempts, Hodge hit 12-of-14 free throws.

“If I just keep playing my game, eventually something will happen,” Hodge said. “I thought I only had about 15 points, but when you get to the line, they pile up.”

That’s what letters from colleges are beginning to do at Hodge’s home in Manhattan. He has already heard from schools in most of the major conferences, but for now he is concentrating on the state Federation tournament, where St. Raymond’s will meet PSAL-champion John F. Kennedy on Friday.

“I’ve got time to think about college,” Hodge said. “Right now I’m focused on winning the state championship.”

Spoken like one of the best juniors around.