CHSAA Class “AA” Playoffs: 2nd Round (Part 2)
BRONX, NY – Part two of the second round of the CHSAA Class “AA” Intersectional playoffs wrapped up on Thursday at St. Raymond H.S. and the stage is officially set for the quarterfinals to be held on Saturday at Fordham University.
Iona Prep Muzzles St. Francis Prep Terriers, 43 – 37
It was a slow-moving game that benefited the Gaels who prefer to play at a measured pace. Conversely, St. Francis Prep wanted to speed things up and get transition baskets. In a low scoring first half, the Terriers held a slight 21 – 17 advantage as 6’4” Anthony Lopez, Jr. ‘20 and 6’2” Justin Hendrick ‘19 got open. That lead was actually an optical illusion that became visible in the second half.
While Iona Prep put forth a spare offense in the first half, Coach Steve Alvarado felt comfortable with his team back-up plan saying, “If we don’t do anything, we defend.” In the third quarter that defense limited St. Francis Prep to a mere four-points.
Balancing scoring led by 6’2” Keeshawn Jones ‘20 and 6’1” Issac Gonzalez ‘22 gave the Gaels a five-point advantage at the end of three quarters and St. Francis would never see it again.
Jones and Gonzalez led Iona Prep with 15 points and 8 points respectively. Lopez was the high scorer for the Terriers with 18 points.
Archbishop Stepinac Outrun St. Peter’s, 91 – 80
For St. Peter’s to win, they would have to control the pace, run their stuff and keep the game close. Two outta three ain’t bad but with the Crusaders dictating the pace, the outcome for the Staten Island high school wasn’t if they’d lose but how much they’d lose by.
Stepinac wanted to play an up-tempo game and the inability to stop 6’6” A.J. Griffin ‘21 and 6’0” R.J. Davis ‘20 along with missed shots by St. Peter’s precipitated transition buckets by the Crusaders. The Eagles unfortunately bought into trying to keep pace with Stepinac as 6’2” Chris Clancy ‘19 and 6’4” Jamal Achille ‘19 scored but the Crusaders were built for this. Davis got to his sweet spots almost at will as did Davis and the additional perimeter offense provided by 6’1” Luke Fizulich ‘20 more than matched St. Peter’s in the opening quarter.
Like a snow ball traveling downhill in the snow, Stepinac’s moment grew. A bruising second quarter left the Eagles underneath a 49 – 32 avalanche. For a squad that prefers a slower pace defending successfully against a quicker team while also scoring at a quicker pace would be a tall order but in the Intersectional it’s either win or go home and the Eagles weren’t ready to go home just yet.
6’7” Liam Murphy ‘19 came alive in the second quarter and came up with more big shots in the third as did Achille but St. Peter’s was simply unable to contain the tag team of Davis and Griffin. By the end of the third quarter, the Crusader’s lead grew to eighteen points.
A desperate Eagles squad got their deficit down to 8 points with about three-minute left in regulation spearheaded by the play of 6’1” Tom Lotito ‘19 and Clancy but it was too little too late.
Griffin netted a game high 38 points for Archbishop Stepinac with Davis adding an additional 33 points. Clancy and Achille notched 22 points apiece for St. Peter’s.
