H.S. BASKETBALL

Rice 68

All Hallows 47

Toward the end of one of his best performances as a high school basketball player, Rice forward Arturo Dubois got a little greedy.

His team owned a comfortable lead en route to a 68-47 rout of All Hallows during yesterday’s Catholic High School Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Alumni Hall. So when Dubois grabbed a fourth-quarter rebound, he skipped the outlet pass and started a fastbreak.

The problem, for All Hallows and the rest of the CHSAA, is that this 6-foot-8 junior can handle the ball a little.

He dribbled twice, spun and threw a 50-foot pass to Carl Gervais near the hoop.

“He’s a big player who we allow to put the ball on the floor,” Rice coach Maurice Hicks said. “And he makes good decisions. We can run and play fast with him because he gets up and down the floor.”

The big guy does damage inside as well. Picking up the slack for 7-foot-2 Shagari Alleyne, who sat out his second straight game for what Hicks called “team related disciplinary issues.” Dubois finished with 22 points, four blocked shots and one memorable assist.

Such a line seemed improbable for a player who played inconsistent minutes off the bench a year ago.

But summer work in the weight room helped chisel away some excess baby fat (he now swims in his No. 34 Raiders jersey), and an extra year of maturity has kept his temper at bay.

“I learned that when I get mad, I play bad,” said Dubois, whose playing time was hurt by some on-court outbursts a year ago. “When it’s time [for the ball] to go up, if I don’t get mad, I’ll play better.”

He certainly played better, maybe his best ever, against an undersized All Hallows team yesterday. Starting at center with Alleyne out, Dubois scored his team’s first three field goals and blocked three shots in the game’s opening six minutes.

That helped the Raiders build an early lead they would never lose.

With the confidence gained yesterday, Dubois becomes the third major factor on a team that features the Rutgers-bound Alleyne and 6-foot-2 junior Russell Robinson, who led Rice (3-0) with 23 points yesterday.

Not bad for a squad that lost six seniors from last year’s 29-2 state champions.

“There’s nobody in front of him now,” Hicks said. “He’s become a leader for us. He sees his chance to excel, and [yesterday], he really took advantage.”

In the afternoon’s opening game, St. Francis Prep, behind 20 points from Andrew Cashin and 18 from Bryan Geffen, roughed up Msrg. McClancy 79-42.

McClancy, still reeling from the expulsion of star player Wesley Matthews, looked disorganized and never got closer than 20 after the break.