CHSAA Class “AA” Quarterfinals (Part 2)
BRONX, NY – On Sunday at Fordham University’s Rose Gym, the final two teams earned their spots in the CHSAA Class “AA” semifinals. Each game was more like chess than basketball as strategies were devised, countered, checked and ultimately checkmated.
Christ the King advances over St. Raymond, 71 – 55
It’s been an uphill road for the Christ the King Royals with 6’11” Moussa Cisse ’21 recently returned from injury and 6’3” Quaran McPherson ‘20 out for the season. Somehow some way, the Royals have made it to the semifinal round. “You wanna play your best basketball at the end of the season,” said head coach Joe Arbitello. “I feel like we’re reinventing ourselves and every day since we got Moussa back, I feel like we’re playing better and better as a unit.”
A strong first quarter by 6’3” Tahron Allen ‘21 gave the Ravens a five-point lead after the first quarter but offense by 6’2” Ryan Myers ‘20 and interior play and rebounding by 6’5” Jared Harrison-Hunte ‘19 turned the tide in Christ the King’s favor at the half. The Royals 33 – 26 lead was also a cause and effect of assists in transition by 5’10” PG Sterling Jones ‘21.
Gary Grant ‘20 came alive in the second half as did 6’0” Malachi Smith ‘21 but Christ the King was able to more than counter with buckets from 6’4” Nate Curry ‘19. 6’11” Moussa Cisse began making his mark on the game playing above the rim and out of reach of defenders on both offence and defense. His impact extended the Royals lead to 11 points at the end of the third quarter.
With an end of a season flashing before their eyes, St. Ray’s ramped it up a few notches. Three balls from 6’2” Luis Kortright ‘20 and Smith made inroads and a put back by Grant cut the Raven’s deficit to a point with 5:15 left in play.
The Royals appeared to have different players step up at different times to save the day during the game. The final quarter was no different as 6’3” Malik Lacewell ‘19 netted to two perimeter shots that extended Christ the King’s lead to 6 points. An and-1 alley-oop dunk by Cisse put the final nail in the proverbial coffin.
Myers put up impressive numbers for Christ the King scoring 17 points to go with five assists. Cisse notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Allen led the way for St. Raymond with 18 points.
Bishop Loughlin knocks out Iona Prep, 59 – 47
The Lions took an early lead as 6’6” Julian Champagnie ‘19 outscored the entire Iona Prep squad in the first quarter. Down by 8 points to begin the second quarter, the Gaels finally got its seas legs and mounted and offensive.
6’1” Issac Gonzalez ‘22 led the charge along with 6’2” Keeshawn Jones ‘20 and 5’9” Marquis Dukes ‘20 and with under a minute left in the quarter, the Gaels had sliced Loughlin’s lead to a point before Champagnie ended the half with a dunk. Iona Prep wanted the overall to be at a slower pace while the Lions wanted to roar up and down the court.
Down 26 – 23 in a low scoring half, Iona Prep still had fire in its belly at the top of the third quarter when 6’3” Will Rubin ‘19 launched a three-ball that tied the game for the first time. For all intents and purposes, the game speed favored the Gaels but Loughlin’s up-tempo guards could not be contained forever
With 5’6” Maurice Doby ‘20 and 5’7” Taj Chiles ‘21 running the show, the Lions began to get points in transition which resulted in Loughlin carrying over a 7-point lead into the final stanza. Gonzalez and Jones battled hard to keep Iona Prep in the hunt but baskets by Champagnie, 6’7” Ada Logan-Tobierre ‘19 and Doby closed the show.
Champagnie led all scorers with 21 points with Logan-Tobierre contributing 11 points. Gonzalez and Jones netted 12 points apiece for Iona Prep.
