Advertisement
basketball Edit

CHSAA Intersectional Quarterfinals

The Day's Top Performers

BRONX, NY - On Sunday afternoon, Fordham University was buzzing as the Quarterfinal round of the CHSAA Intersectionals took place in the Rose Hill Gym. Eight teams entered the arena but only four teams emerged unscathed. Here’s how it went down

Advertisement

Christ the King prevails in double OT over St. Rays, 79-77

“Our strength ain’t just about skill, it’s about heart,” said Jose Alvarado
“Our strength ain’t just about skill, it’s about heart,” said Jose Alvarado (M. Wingate)

The highlight of the day took place during the third game between the CTK Royals and the St. Ray’s Ravens. 6’7” Sid Wilson ‘17 (13 points & 6 blocks) and 6’2” Omar Silverio ’18 (24 points & 2 assists) quickly gave the Ravens an advantage with Wilson scoring inside and blocking while Silverio launched an aerial attack.

Down by eight to begin the second quarter, point guard 6’0” Jose Alvarado ’17 (21 points, 11 rebounds & 8 assists) turned it up scoring from the perimeter as well as with assists inside to 6’5” Tyrone Cohen ‘16 (22 points & 7 rebounds) and 6’7” David Cole ’16 (5 points & 7 rebounds). With the momentum shift caused by the junior, the Royals outscored St. Raymond in the latter half of the quarter 7-zip and only trailed 25-24 at the midway point of the game.

At the top of the third quarter a pass from Alvarado gave Christ the King their first lead but Silverio and 6’2” Dallas Watson ’18 (12 points & 4 rebounds) pushed back and regain the lead for the Bronx team. Although St. Ray’s tipped the scale back in its favor throughout the quarter, Cohen and 6’2” Tracey Cleckley ’16 (14 points & 8 rebounds) kept CK breathing down their necks.

The Ravens held a two point lead to start the final quarter and a mano y mano would jump off between point guards as 6’1” Isaiah Washington ‘17 (16 points & 8 assists) hoped to put the icing on the cake and advance. St. Ray’s led by six with 1:50 left in regulation off a clutch jumper by Washington but a pass to 6’0” Jared Rivers ’16 (15 points) from Alvarado for three and a score by Cleckley knotted things at 55 and sent the game into overtime.

Like a scene out of a Rocky movie, both the Ravens and Royals threw haymakers at each other sending the game into second OT tied at 65. Alvarado put CTK in the driver’s seat early with an assist to Cohen put knocking down free throws with 2:30 left to play.

Alvarado then picked Washington’s pocket for the deuce and suddenly the Ravens were on their heels, down by five or were they?

Silverio goes strong to the hole and scores, fouling out Cole with 1:22 but the sophomore missed the and1. There was still hope for St. Ray’s as Christ the King made a few missteps in the final seconds. First, 5’11” Tyson Walker ‘18 fouls Silverio attempting a three-pointer. The sophomore nailed all three foul shots and CTK had the ball with a two point lead. In the inbound, however, the Royals would turn the ball over and St. Ray’s had a shot to tie the game or take the lead with 3.4 seconds left in OT. Unable to get a good shot off, the Ravens would fall short.

“Our strength ain’t just about skill, it’s about heart,” said Alvarado. “St. Ray’s is a great team and it took two overtimes to beat them.”


Bishop Loughlin Ends Holy Cross, 78-62

“[Christ the King] beat us a lot in the championships so I’m looking forward to that [rematch],” said Jordan Thomas
“[Christ the King] beat us a lot in the championships so I’m looking forward to that [rematch],” said Jordan Thomas (M. Wingate)

Everyone was expecting the dynamic duo of 5’8” Markquis Nowell ’18 (10 points & 8 assists) and 6’5” Keith Williams ’17 (12 points & 7 rebounds) to light it up but the Lions used sleight of hand to defeat Holy Cross in the second to last final contest of the evening. “I step up at times when Markquis is not doing good or Keith is not doing good said 6’4” Jordan Thomas ’17 (20 points & 15 rebounds). The senior stepped up big for Loughlin and spearheaded their domination of the Knights in almost every quarter.

“I’ve been here last year. I did good last year so we got another scorer in me,” Thomas boasted.

In the opening quarter, it was all about Jeremy Betjol ’16 (14 points & 3 rebounds) .The 6’9” senior owned the paint offensively for the Lions. Holy Cross kept pace as 5’11” Chaz Platt ‘16 (9 points & 6 assists) fed 6’4” Jamel Horton ’16 (12 points & 4 assists) for two.

With a 4 point lead to start the second, the Lions extended its point spread as Platt and Horton struggled offensively for the Knights. The writing was starting to appear on the wall as Bishop Loughlin took 32-19 in the third quarter.

In an effort to prove that the writing on the wall was in pencil and not indelible ink, 6’2” Hassan Diarra ’19 (26 points, 8 rebounds & 2 assists) began to put on a clinic in the third quarter and soon erased most of Loughlin’s lead. Only down by five point to begin the points as the fourth quarter commenced, the Knights were poised to once again silence the naysayers as they did in the opening round of the tournament.

The Knights pulled to within three points of the lead with 6:41 before reality set in. The cumulative effect of assists from Nowell to Williams and Thomas along with the inside play from Betjol proved to be too much in the end as the Lions advance to the semifinals where they play their archrivals, Christ the King. “They beat us a lot in the championships so I’m looking forward to that,” said Thomas who added that beating the Royals would be payback.


Xaverian Crosses Off Cardinal Hayes, 62-57

Zack Bruno & Nyontay Wissah
Zack Bruno & Nyontay Wissah (M. Wingate)

The Xaverian Clippers would methodically and patiently zone Cardinal Hayes to death in a low scoring contest that featured solid play from the tandem of 6’3” Nyontay Wissah ’16 (20 points, 9 rebounds & 4 assists) and 6’3” Zack Bruno ’17 (17 points, 8 rebounds & 2assists). Only down no more than five points at any given time, the Cardinals did make a comeback led by 6’5” Victor Montenegro ’16 (15 points & 9 rebounds) to knot the game at 47 to start the final quarter.

The Clippers retook the lead for good as Bruno and Wissah put on the afterburners. The usually potent 6’0” Clive Allen ‘16 (12 points & 3 assists) ended his high school career with Hayes in less than stellar fashion, watching his Cardinals lose from the bench with five fouls.

Archbishop Molloy Outshines Iona Prep, 53-43

Cole Anthony
Cole Anthony (M. Wingate)

Ever since Iona Prep lost its Virginia-bound star player Ty Jerome ‘16 mid-season due to injury, the Gaels seem like The Pips without Gladys Knight. Kind of like five mics occupied in the back with the one main mic in the front vacant. While they do have prospective talent in 6’4” Bryce Wills ’18 and 6’8” Souleymane Koureissi ‘18, Iona Prep lack the go-to-guy to go to when the going gets tough.

Molloy conversely has a full band with 6’0” Cole Anthony ’19 (19 points, 7 rebounds & 3 assists) as its point guard and lead vocalist with back-up singing from 6’6” Khalid Moore ’18 (14 points & 7 rebounds) and 6’11” Moses Brown ’18 (6 points, 11 rebounds & 6 blocks). Not to mention 6'5" Issac Grant '16 (10 points & 8 rebounds) holding down the bass.

Such was the case as the Stanners took it to Iona Prep in the second quarterfinal match. While at first it seemed as if the Gaels were going to be competitive in this low scoring contest, it was actually more of a slow death for the Gaels in a game where the Stanners lead grew exponentially quarter by quarter.

Trailing only by a point after one quarter and by 3 points at the half, Iona Prep would trail by four points at the end of three only to lose by ten. The Gaels were led by defacto 6’4” point guard Pat Flemmng ’16 (9 points & 5 rebounds) and 6’8” Josh Alexander ’18 (7 points & 11 rebounds).


Follow us on Twitter @NYCHoops
Follow us on Twitter @NYCHoops ()
Advertisement