CHSAA Class AA Quarterfinals

BRONX, NY - The opening two games quarterfinal games on Sunday at the CHSAA Intersectional Playoffs were both ultra-competitive games that went down to the closing minutes. Both had moments where it looked like the game could go either way as all four teams came out looking strong.

In the end the winners, who will play each other this Tuesday in the semifinals, were the ones who came up with the big plays down the stretch in what proved to be a pair of very entertaining games from Fordham University.

Iona Prep Escapes Archbishop Molloy, 69-63

While Iona Prep is considered a championship contender, they came out slow and allowed Molloy to jump out to a double digit lead before responding with a big 3rd quarter to take control en route to the win.

Molloy got out to a quick start in the opening quarter as both D'Ante Warren '15 and Chase Audige '17 knocked down three pointers to help give the Stanners an early 16-7 lead with 2:16 to go in the opening quarter.

Everything continued to go Molloy's way as only Ty Jerome '16 was able to provide Iona Prep with a scoring touch in the early going as the Stanners maintained a 24-16 lead with 1:55 to go in the half, but that is when the Gaels started to turn up the intensity and push the tempo a bit more.

Tom Capuano '15 was able to score off a feed from Jerome in the open floor to get things going as Iona Prep closed the half on a 7-0 run with Jerome capping things off with a runner in the lane just before the halftime buzzer to bring the Gaels back within one at 24-23 heading into the locker room.

It was most certainly not the start the Gaels expected to come out with, and head coach Vic Quirolo said he felt his team didn't come out the way they needed to for such an important game.

"I give Molloy credit, they came to play, but I felt we came out really tight and played not to lose which you cannot do," Quirolo said.

The final run to end the half though gave Iona Prep new life in the eyes of Jerome, but to start the second half things only got worse again.

Warren came out and had 7 quick points in the 3rd, and after Jason Camus '15 knocked down a trey from the left wing with 5:12 to go in the quarter, the Stanners had taken their largest lead of the game at 36-25.

Iona Prep called a quick timeout at that point and Jerome said the attitude at that point was all about knowing what needed to get done.

"We just said it's now or never. We had to come out and hit big shots or we knew we might be done," Jerome said.

Whatever was said worked as over the next three minutes the Gaels went on a 15-0 run as Capuano and Jerome scored 14 of the 15 during the run to see them overtake Molloy 40-36 with just over a minute to go in the period.

A pair of FT's from Isaac Grant '16 ended the run and cut the deficit for Molloy to just 2, but Bryce Wills '17 scored on a putback at the buzzer to put Iona Prep back up 42-38 after 3.

The 4th saw the run continue as Iona Prep went up 48-40 with 6:58 to play, but a scrappy Stanners team refused to go away as Warren and Justin Cole '16 were able to find lanes to score going inside.

The deficit was cut to 5 on a pair of occasions but never got close as behind Jerome and Capuano, the Gaels were able to grab the 69-63 victory.

Jerome had a team high 26 points, while Capuano added 24 as they paced the way to a big Iona Prep win, advancing them to Tuesday's semifinals.

Warren scored 27 points to lead Molloy in what was a great individual performance as he almost was able to bring the Stanners to an improbable win.

It wasn't mean to be though as Iona Prep was able to hang on in the end, but it was a struggle from start to finish, and Quirolo knows his team got a bit lucky to move on to the next round.

"We willed it out today. It was a game we had to grind out and show a lot of character in. It was a learning experience we will take with us, but I am just Thank God we were able to get the win."

Xaverian Evicts Cardinal Hayes, 56-54

When these two teams met during the regular season, it was a blowout victory in favor of Cardinal Hayes, and to make sure that game was not still with his team, Clippers head coach Jack Alesi gathered together his team at practice on Saturday and specifically spoke about that game which was a Cardinals 69-51 victory, and how he wanted it out of their minds.

"We talked about the last game against them and I told them to forget about that game," Alesi said. "It was up at Hayes on a Tuesday at 4pm, and it's not an excuse, Hayes is a very good team, but this had to be about today."

It was a brand new game with a brand new atmosphere and it had a brand new theme as well.

Against Hayes last month, Xaverian struggled to hit perimeter shots, so according to guard Bard Featherston '15, the talk before the game was about coming up big when the team would need it most.

"Coach Alesi said if you want to win we will need to hit big shots at big times," Featherston said.

Coming up big in the big moment would prove to be big as Xaverian ultimately came up with the big play at the big time to carry them to the victory.

There were no adjustments to the strategy in how Xaverian would play Alesi said, and the game did have a very similar feel to the regular season meeting with Cardinal Hayes jumping out to a quick 17-9 lead after one as guards Clive Allen '16 and Baron Goodridge '16 were each able to create off the dribble and score from long range.

Xaverian was struggling with what they do best, which is run there "Ground and Pound" offense. That's the name Alesi came up for the offense they run as they try to run everything they do from the inside out, and in the 2nd quarter, it was Sayon Charles '15 who stepped up his play scoring 6 points in the early moments of the period to help start to steer momentum back in the Clippers favor.

With the success of pounding the ball inside, the perimeter started to open up as well as Featherston and Doyin Isaac '15 each knocked down treys as the quarter neared a conclusion, and while the opening minutes of the game were not to Xaverian's liking, they closed the half strong to get within 27-26 at the half.

Allen opened the 3rd quarter with a runner in the lane for Cardinal Hayes, and that was soon followed by a three ball from the left wing, but for as well as the Cardinals were playing, Xaverian was playing just that much better, and after a basket driving in while getting fouled by Isaac, the Clippers took their first lead of the game at 35-32 with 4:26 to go in the 3rd.

The Clippers would take a 37-36 lead into the 4th, but Allen drained a three pointer, scoring off the dribble to see Cardinal Hayes retake the lead in the opening seconds of the quarter, and from that point on, it was a dogfight the rest of the way.

The big shots at big times speech that Alesi gave before the game was still ringing in the ears of the Xaverian players, and with their season on the brink it was time for someone to step up, and that someone proved to be Featherston.

Known as a three point shooting threat, Featherston connected on a 3 from the right wing off a pass from Isaac to give Xaverian a 44-43 lead. Allen quickly tied the game up soon after by going one of two from the FT line, but once again it was Featherston with another big trey, this time from the right corner, as he gave the Clippers a 47-44 lead with 1:48 to play, and he said he knew that it was just his time to come through for his team.

"I caught the ball in big times and I knew I needed to make those shots. They felt good out of my hand and it was a positive result I guess," Featherston said.

He wouldn't be the only one to come up big as with Featherston having done his job, now it was time for guard Nyontay Wisseh '16 to shine.

With Cardinal Hayes once again within one at 49-48 and having possession of the ball with under a minute to go, Wisseh jumped in the passing lane and was able to get the steal, and he took the ball the rest of the way for a layup in transition while getting fouled with 30.3 seconds to go in the game.

It was an enormous play from a player who Alesi says can dominate a game defensively, and he proved that on this one play alone, and it was a play that Wisseh says he knew he had to make.

"I saw them doing the dribble handoff and I basically read the play," Wisseh said. "I had other chances to get steals before but I didn't go for them, this time I did and I hit the ball from behind and got the steal."

A play of the game candidate for sure, Alesi said he had been telling Wisseh to jump the lane, and was very proud that his young junior was able to come up and make the smart defensive play when the Clippers needed him to most.

That steal seems to be the end of Cardinal Hayes as Allen soon fouled out with his 5th foul and the Clippers were solid from the free throw line. Goodridge made a three from Cardinal Hayes as the final buzzer sounded, but it was just for cosmetic purposes as Xaverian proved to be too much, taking down the Cardinals, 56-54.

It was a very balanced offensive scoring attack for Xaverian in the victory as Isaac led with 14 points, while Featherston added 13, and Charles chipped in with 12.

In the loss, Allen proved why he was a 1st Team All-CHSAA player as he had a game high 27 points, but his team came up just short of moving on to the semifinals.

It's Xaverian who will be moving on to the CHSAA Intersectional Semifinals to take on Iona Prep on Tuesday at 6pm, and while there is still work ahead for the Clippers as a semifinal appearance will not be enough for this team according to Featherston, but at the same time, he says he looks back at where they were last season and can't help but be proud of how far they have come.

"It feel good. We were at the opposite end of a lot of these games last season. We struggled a lot but we came together in the offseason and we worked hard because we knew we would have to play as one if we wanted to get far, and that's what we have done, but hopefully we aren't done yet."