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CHSAA Archdiocesan Quarterfinals

BRONX, NY – The St. Raymond Raven’s nest was the host site for Sunday’s CHSAA Archdiocesan Varsity Class “AA” Quarterfinal round. Three games took place with St. Ray’s receiving a BYE and, in a twist, in two of the three match-ups, the lower seed prevailed.

#5 Stepinac Upends #4 Monsignor Scanlan, 72 – 60

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R.J. Davis & A.J. Griffin
R.J. Davis & A.J. Griffin (M. Wingate)

Archbishop Stepinac has struggled all season long. Saddled with injuries to its star player A.J. Griffin ‘21 the approach by head coach Pat Massaroni was to do a re-set with the return of the sophomore. “I told [the players], this was going to be a long season. It’s a grind and we gotta keep battling every day.”

Stepping up on the defensive end and players embracing their role was the key in his Crusaders winning the last seven out of eight and 5 in a row after a dismal start to the season. Massaroni said he encouraged his team not to look at the losses. There were only two or three that were true blowouts. The others we were down by two or four and loss to buzzer beaters.”

R.J. Davis ‘20 held it down for Stepinac in the first quarter but 6’8” Matt Mayers ‘20 and 6’4” Joe Munden ’21 countered inside for Scanlan who only trailed by a point as the second quarter began. Davis became even more aggressive offensively in the latter half. That couple with perimeter shots from 6’1” Luke Fizulich ‘20 pushed the Stepinac advantage to 35 – 29 at the midway point.

The second half became more the same for Scanlan who continued received a steady diet of buckets from Davis along with Griffin who quietly stuffed the stat sheet. The Stepinac lead grew to nine-points to start the final quarter and Scanlan could never quite catch their breathe.

Davis paced the Stepinac Crusaders with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists with Griffin adding a triple double (15 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists). The Scanlan Crusaders were powered by Munden who netted 21 points.

“This is the team we expected to have on November 3rd,” said Coach Massaroni. “Now we’re coming together.”

#2 Cardinal Hayes Outpaces #7 St. Peter’s, 68 – 59

Jaylen Murray
Jaylen Murray (M. Wingate)

Being an underdog along with traveling to the Bronx from Staten Island were surely motivating factors for St. Peter’s. The Eagles key to victory was to slow the pace down while Cardinal Hayes want the game to be quick, fast and in a hurry. They say that Speed Kills and when the dust settled, it appears that Cardinals fly faster than Eagles, at least on Sunday.

“[St. Peter’s] wanted a slower pace,” said Hayes head coach Joe Lods. “They run good stuff and they have some excellent shooters. They have all the ingredients for an upset.” Lods said that Jaylen Murray’s 30 points threw a monkey wrench into the recipe.

A balanced scoring attacked led by Murray, Joe Toussaint ‘19 and 6’2” Bryan Adams ‘20 offset basket made by St. Peter’s and put the S.I. power in catch up mode for most of the half. The Eagles kept pace with Hayes due to scoring from 6’2” Chris Clancy ‘19 but trailed the Bronx school 39 – 32 at the half.

Murray continued to scorch St. Peter’s with mid-range, perimeter baskets and an unbelievable hustle play by 5'9" Jalen Smith '20 and the Eagles were quickly staring into the abyss, down by 14 points at the top of the fourth quarter. The Eagles have always been a resilient team and midway through the quarter made comfortable Hayes squad suddenly uncomfortable with a 10 – 0 run led by Clancy and 6’1” Tom Lotito ‘19.

Down by 5 points with 1:23 left to play, St. Peter’s ran out of gas as Murray and 6’9” Adam Cisse ‘19 closed the show for Cardinal Hayes. We missed some terrible shots early in the game but Jaylen’s ability to shoot the ball from the outside really neutralized any thoughts of a Cinderella type evening.

While Murray led the way for Cardinal Hayes, Clancy was the high man for St. Peter’s with 19 points which included 5 three-pointers.

#6 Iona Prep Climbs #3 Mount St. Michael, 72 – 58

Issac Gonzalez & Keeshawn Jones
Issac Gonzalez & Keeshawn Jones (M. Wingate)

A battle between two teams that like to slow this down to their preferred paces is usually a chess match. According to Iona Prep Gaels head coach Steve Alvarado, they made it into a game of attrition. “One of our strategies was we knew this was their third game in four days and we felt that if we put continued pressure on them that they may wear down.” That plan seemed to come together in the second half as the Mountaineers production plummeted in the second half.

Mount St. Michael held the lead in the first quarter with scoring from 5’11” Mike Green ‘19 along with 6’3” Ibrahim Wattera ‘20 and 5'9" Marquis Dukes '20. A five-point advantage dwindled to mere deuce at the half due to offense from 6’2” Keeshawn Jones ‘20 and 6’5” Aidan Hilderbrand ‘20.

In a shallow 28 – 26 halftime hole, Iona Prep made its move in the third quarter as 6’4” Ronald Greene, Jr. ‘21 and 6’3” Will Rubin ‘19 got hot. A Hilderbrand trey at the top of the quarter gave the Gaels a 1-point lead. The Mountaineers tried to keep pace with aggressive scoring from Wattera and an 8 – 0 run by Iona Prep punted their lead into double-digits.

Green made a courageous effort, scoring the majority of Mount St. Michaels points in the fourth but the Gaels lead still hovered at about 10 points throughout the quarter as 6’1” Issac Gonzalez ‘21 and Jones drained momentum ending buckets. Unable gain traction, the Mountaineers eventually fell by 14 points as time ran out.

Jones scored 15 points for Iona Prep with Gonzalez contributing 14 points. Green was Mount St. Michaels’ top scorer with a game high 28 points.

CHSAA Archdiocesan Semifinals are set

Date: Tuesday February 19th

Games & Times:

#2 Cardinal Hayes vs #6 Iona Prep @ 6pm

#1 St. Raymond vs #5 Archbishop Stepinac

Location: Mount St. Michael

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