CHSAA “AA” Intersectional Quarterfinals

BRONX, NY – Fordham University was the scene for high and low emotions as eight teams were whittled down to four during Sunday’s CHSAA “AA” Intersectional Quarterfinal round. Some teams lived to fight another day while for others, it was the end of the road.

It had all the makings of a classic David vs. Goliath storybook endings. A severely undersized but motivated All Hallows Gaels were up against an all-star Molloy Stanners squad the featured 7’0” rivals.com five-star phenom Moses Brown ‘18. At first, it appeared as if the game was heading towards a 'made of TV' ending as the Gaels not only gave Molloy all they could handle but even led after the first quarter. If not for the exploits of Khalid Moore ’18, the final outcome might have been different.

With all-star point guard Cole Anthony ‘19 getting into early foul trouble, the Stanners were in dire straits like a ship without its rudder. “Without him in the game, we needed someone else to pick up the team and step it up and be a leader for the team and I decided to step it up,” said Moore.

Brown scored off a dunk early in the game and Molloy move out in front of the Gaels by three-points but 5’10” Donald Hartley ‘18, 5’9” Kristian Marshall ‘17 and 5’11” Carnell White ‘17 remained in attack mode and ended up leading by three to start the second quarter. Anthony had already picked up three fouls and was a bench warmer for a good portion of the second quarter

Although All Hallows was keeping pace with Molloy, they were having more and more trouble handling the Stanners’ seven-foot junior center. 6’2” Nick Johnson ‘19 poured in 10 second quarter points for the Gaels but Molloy eventually pulled ahead, 34- 30 at the half.

Moore said that his team knew that All Hallows was going to be a hand full. “We expected them to come out hard. We knew that we were the team that they wanted to beat to keep going on in the season. We knew they were going to come out hard and play aggressive.”

At the half, Stanners Head Coach Mike McLeary told his team to keep their heads, get back on defense and be aggressive on offense according to Moore and that’s what they did. With Brown becoming virtually unstoppable on offense while swatting Gaels shots left and right, Moore would also step up his game. All Hallows fell behind by 14 at the end of the third quarter and became a sinking ship.

While All Hallows fought the good fight, bigger is oftentimes better in the game of basketball. Moore attributed his team’s lethargic start to time off. “We just came off to a slow start because we haven’t played in a while. We just came out rusty.

Brown led all scorers with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Moore produced 21 points to go with 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Hartley paced All Hallows with 17 points and 3 assists.

They say, it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes teamwork to beat a legendary team in the quarterfinal round of the Catholic League City Championship. The Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders put forth a concerted effort to take down the Christ the King Royals and do just that.

Led by R.J. Davis ’20, the Crusader’s point guard had to go up against Georgia Tech-bound Jose Alvarado ‘17 on offense and try to stop hard to guard Tyson Walker ’18 on defense. While only a freshman, he rose to the occasion. “I just wanted to come out with the mindset to dominate,” said Davis. “I just wanted to help my teammates and get them the ball. To see who’s hot and if I’m hot, just go for mines.”

The Royals took an early lead with Stepinac having no answer for the inside supremacy of 6’10” Kofi Cockburn ‘19. Trailing by seven points to start the second quarter, the Crusaders played catchup all throughout the first half as Cockburn continued to slay in the paint with the point guard tag team of Alvarado and Walker set the table. Stepinac stayed within striking range due to 6’3” Jorden Means ‘17 along with additional offense from Davis and Alan Griffin ’18.

Down 41 – 34 to start the second half, when Alvarado pierced their zone at the onset all signed point towards more of the same for Stepinac but that all changed when Davis drained a trey followed by another bucket from Griffin. Shooting 69% in the third quarter, Stepinac took its first lead since the first quarter off a third quarter buzzer beater by Xavier Wilson.

“To be able to go on a run like that and defend on a high level, that was the key in the second half,” said Stepinac head coach Pat Massaroni. “We scored 44 points and held them to 26 but we defended.”

The Crusaders controlled the momentum in the fourth quarter as a dunk in transition by Means signaled the beginning of the end. A four-point lead soon grew to 10 points lead and while the Royals did get the lead back down to four points with 2:30 left to play, it was clear that all the air had been let out of Christ the Kings’ balloon.

Davis was the high scorer for Stepinac with 23 points & 7 assists. Means contributed 22 points with Wilson and Griffin adding 14 points and 11 points respectively. Cockburn netted 22 points & 10 rebounds with Alvarado pitching in 20 points and 5 assists.

By Toyloy Brown III ’18 (Intern)

The Cardinals knocked out the Mountaineers in the quarterfinals of the playoffs at Fordham University. The Cardinals remained in control for the entirety of the game and never let up their lead.

In the first period, Cardinal Hayes displayed an exciting offence for all 8 minutes. Joe Toussaint ‘19 led the charge early, facilitating to outside shooters. The main beneficiary of these passes was Williams with 9 points all from beyond the arc. While the Cardinals were clicking on all cylinders, the Mountaineers struggled to find rhythm. Elijah Buchanan ‘17 was able to muster 8 points and 4 rebounds to keep his team from being blowout early. The quarter ended with the Cardinals ahead 25-12.

After a stellar start for the Cardinals, the second quarter showcased better defense from Mount St. Michael. Mount’s 6’4” Ibrahim Wattare ‘20 lit a spark for his team with two powerful two-handed slams in the period. Following the second dunk, Cardinal Hayes turned the ball over two times consecutively. Fortunately, they did not allow their opponent to score and gain momentum. Even without capitalizing on the Cardinals mistakes, the Mountaineers only trailed by 8 points. Toussaint handled the ball in the final seconds of the half and sliced through multiple defenders to then finish an acrobatic lay-up. Hayes ended the half ahead 38-28.

The only deterrent that Hayes encountered in the second half was foul trouble. 6’2” Tyrese Williams ‘18 picked up his fourth foul with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter. Mount St. Michael remained in striking distance with a deficit of 8 points for much of the rest of the game. 6’0” reserve guard Terrence Reaves ’18 ignited some energy into Cardinal Hayes heading into the fourth quarter with an athletic tip in. The quarter ended with Hayes ahead 51-42 over Mount.

In the final period, both teams lost important starters to foul trouble early in the fourth. Buchanan, already with 3 fouls, picked up two more fouls to end his night with 7:06 remaining. Not long after, Toussaint fouled out as well with 4:09 left in the game. With both stars gone, each team was going to have to find other contributors to play well.

The Cardinals seemed to play at a more deliberate pace by making as many passes as possible each possession. The closest the Mountaineers came to coming back in the final 4 minutes of the game was when 6’4” Jacob Rodriguez ’17 scored a lay-up and made it an 8-point game. The final nail in Mount’s coffin came from 6’2” forward Terry Dawkins ’18 taking it to the rack for a powerful lay-up to bring them up back up double digits.

The threes that the Cardinals made were essential to their victory and Williams agreed. “To be honest we are going to live and die by the three, so if we’re open we are going to shoot the ball.”

Another key component was that they were able to slow down Buchanan after he scored 11 points in the first half and ended his night with 13. “That is just us communicating and knowing when to switch on and off him [Buchanan]. Knowing when to just play him tight and let him get open,” said Williams

Although Hayes should celebrate this win they must remember that they are playing to keep advancing in the playoffs and keep their season alive.

The leading scorer of the game was Williams with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Hayes’s Toussaint finished with 12 points 5 rebounds and 7 assists. For Mount St. Michael, star player Buchanan finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds.

Tsunamis strike unexpectedly with its victims fooled by the preceding blue skies and quiet waters. Hence the term, Calm before the Storm. Both the Loughlin Lions and Iona Prep were warming up in their respective lay-up lines but like the prequel to devastating natural disaster, the Gaels were totally unaware of the upcoming downpour of buckets that was going to blow them away.

After being beseeched with a 13 – 0 Loughlin run shortly after the tip-off, Iona Prep found themselves in a 16-point sinkhole by the end of the first quarter. Cincinnati-bound Keith Williams ‘17 along with Markquis Nowell ‘18 rained down buckets of buckets with help from 6’3” Tyrese Gafney ‘17 and the Gaels were staring at a 49 – 22 halftime deficit that they never recovered from.

Ahead by 24 points to start the final quarter, Lions head Coach Ed Gonzalez subbed out his starters with five minutes left to play. That resulted in the final score being a bit more respectable.

Nowell led Loughlin with a game high 22 points and 8 assists with Gafney and Williams contributing 21 and 20 points respectively. Josh Alexander ‘18 was the high scorer for Iona Prep with 19 points & 3 assists with 6’4” Nick Brennan ‘17 adding 15 points.

UPCOMING PLAYOFF SCHEDULE :

Varsity Intersectional Semi-Finals

Wednesday 3/8 @ St. John's University

6:00 pm NY #5 Cardinal Hayes (Dark) vs. BQ #2 Bishop Loughlin (White)

8:00 pm NY #2 Stepinac (Dark) vs. BQ #1 Molloy (White)