CHSAA Archdiocesan Semifinal Recaps

BRONX, NY - On Tuesday at Mt. Saint Michael Academy, it was the end road, for now, for two teams as Iona Prep battled St. Raymond followed by Archbishop Stepinac verses Cardinal Hayes. Both games were barnburners but there could only be two teams heading for the championship round.

The Gaels managed to keep St. Ray’s at bay the first half of the game playing but the Ravens began to creep forward in the second half and eventually beat back Iona Prep led by the efforts of Isaiah Washington ’17 (25 points). “I think in the second half, he plays with a sense of urgency,” said Ravens Head Coach Jorge Lopez. “Like he says ‘It’s money time.’”

The junior point guard, who scored 19 points in the second half, said he was on a mission to exact some payback but just on Iona Prep. They just happened to be first up. “Last year, [Iona Prep] beat us bad in the championship and we needed revenge,” said Washington.

From the tipoff, it appeared as if the Gaels were looking for déjà vu all over again as 6’4” Pat Flemming ‘16 (9 points) and 6’1” Gio Gabbidon ‘16 (8 points)put Iona Prep up 8-3 early in the first quarter. Luckily a 7-2 Ravens run spearheaded by 6’2” Dallas Watson ‘18 (11 points) sent both teams tied at 10 as the second quarter began.

Iona Prep was getting it done even without the services of their star senior point guard Ty Jerome ‘16 who’s out for the season and forced to watch from the bench due to injury. With spectacular defensive blocks from 6’4” Bryce Wills ’18 along with offensive production from Flemming, Gabbidon and 6’8” Souleymane Koureissi ’18 (9 points), Iona Prep took a 26-22 advantage into the locker room at the half

The Gaels improved on its lead to start the second quarter as 6’8” Josh Alexander ‘18 (8 points) moved bodies and scored but Washington and Watson began to pump up the volume offensively. Outscoring Iona Prep 10-4, the Ravens would finally take a brief lead off a putback dunk by 6’7” Sid Wilson ’17 (9 points). The Gaels regained their lead to end the third quarter as 6’0” Jon Brennen ‘16 (6 points) scored late.

In the final quarter, Washington took it up a notch, quickly tying the game with an assist to Watson. The junior then put St. Ray’s back on top with a steal topped off with a dunk in transition. Another steal by Wilson plus perimeter buckets by 5’7” Terrence Trice ‘18 (4 points) and Ravens were up 9 with a little over a minute and a half left in regulation. With nothing left in the Gaels tank it would be game, set, and match.

“I wasn’t worried,” said Lopez after the game. ”We knew eventually that we would wear them down.”

Now that Iona Prep has gone fishing until the upcoming CHSAA Intersectionals, Washington said that he’s rooting for Cardinal Hayes to win its semifinal match so that Hayes and St. Raymond can do battle in the chip. “Last year, they beat us twice. Then we came here in the final four and we beat them so it’ll be a good game.”

One could easily categorize the final semifinal match up as the Cardinals pulling out a victory from the jaws of defeat. This loss, however, was primarily due to Stepinac getting a fatal attack of youth and inexperience from two of its sophomores in the fourth and overtime quarters.

“We were up two with the ball sideline out,” said Stepinac Head Coach Patrick Massaroni. “The ball got stolen from [Aundre Hyatt ’18 (17 points)]. They came down and hit a tough shot to force overtime.”

The problems for the Crusaders occurred even before the inbounding fiasco. With Archbishop Stepinac ahead by five with 1:17 left in regulation, 5’11” Baron Goodridge ‘16 (13 points) and 6’2” Quran Brickhouse ‘16 (3 points) quickly closed the game to a deuce with 58.6 seconds. 5'9" Payton Hudson ‘18 (6 points), another sophomore, turned the ball over with 26 seconds that ultimately set up the scenario to allow 6’5” Victor Montenegro ‘16 (12 points) to score at the buzzer sending the game into overtime.

The game was dog eat dog for the entire contest. Hayes led at the end of the first quarter even though its star point guard 6’0” Clive Allen ‘16 (18 points) had to sit out due to early foul trouble. The Crusaders came storming back with buckets by 6'7" Jordan Tucker ‘17 (20 points) along with assists to 6’3” Jorden Means ’17 (8 points) and 5’10” Eduard Minaya ’19 (6 points) Cardinal Hayes countered with shots by Goodridge and 6’0” Pedro Marquez ‘16 (6 points) but a late 3-ball by Minaya gave Stepinac a 35-31 halftime lead.

The Cardinals were resilient as Allen and Goodridge tag teamed the Crusaders. A 17-5 Hayes run put the Bronx team up by four as the fourth quarter commenced at a constant frenetic pace. Stepinac regained the lead and was positioned to put Cardinal Hayes away but last second heroics by Hayes and a slight meltdown by Stepinac sent the game into an extra inning. Knotted at 56 apiece.

Hayes fired the first salvo in overtime as Goodridge scored. Hyatt countered with a trey. 2:59 was left to play and the game was again tied at 60 when a hard full contact no-call sent Tucker crumbling to the floor. After being sprawled out on the court for a few minutes, the junior sat out for a few plays and eventually re-entered the game to the cheers of the crowd.

“Tucker hurt his right shoulder,” said Coach Massaroni with regard to the no call. “I have no extent to what the injury is. I could tell when he subbed himself back in it was all black and blue. It is what it is on that call.”

Hudson would somewhat redeem himself for his costly turnover, netting a clutch tree-ball with 52 seconds left to play to pull Stepinac to within a point. Hayes would commit a turnover with under 18 seconds and the Crusader had a chance to win but with 7.9 left on the clock Hyatt would miss two chances at the rim as time expired.

In the Championship St. Raymond’s will play Cardinal Hayes on Saturday February 27 at Mt. Saint Michaels Academy at 1pm.