CHSAA Knocks Out PSAL
BROOKLYN, NY – Sunday evening's CHSAA vs PSAL Tournament at LIU-Brooklyn was the closest thing to the now defunct Federation Tournament of Champions in determining who’s the overall best of the best in high school basketball. The Catholic High School Athletic Association Class AA champion Archbishop Stepinac (CHSAA) went head-to-head against, Eagle Academy II, the last team standing in the Public School Athletics League (4A).
The first half was a knock down drag out pick 'em with each team punching and counterpunching effectively. Stepinac flexed hard in the second half, ultimately overpowering the Eagles, 75 – 64.
According to Stepinac Head coach Pat Massaroni, “We knew we had to keep them out of transition and rebound really well." With Danny Carbuccia ‘25 running the point and Braylen Ritvo ‘24 crashing the boards, the plan was coming together early on and the Crusaders busted open an 11-point lead in the warmup quarter.
Stepinac’s strategy was to contain Ajani Fleming ‘24 and Jakai Sanders ‘24, Eagle Academy’s two-headed monster. In the second quarter, the dam broke, and the dynamic duo went off with under 2 minutes remaining in the half, an and1 by Sanders not only closed the gap but a strong quarter by Ahmed Ibrahim ‘24 briefly gave the Eagles a 2-point advantage. Boogie Fland ‘24 quickly turned the tide back in Stepinac’s favor and they ended the half, back on top, 36 – 33.
“Jakai was their focal point on most of their offensive sets, so we wanted to frustrate him coming off screens and make it tough for him,” Massaroni said. The plan started to come together in the second half as the Crusaders began to expand their lead. Fland provided steady offense while Ritvo remained in Beast-Mode throughout the contest.
Down by 18 to start the final quarter and 21 with 7 minutes remaining, both squads soon subbed out to stop the bleeding. The final score was not indicative of the decisive point spread.
Ritvo earned MVP honors with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Fland was the high scorer for Stepinac with 22 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Flemming led Eagle Academy with 20 points with Ibrahim and Sanders netting 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
Archbishop Stepinac under Pat Massaroni ends its season with a record of 24 – 4 overall and a 19 – 1 CHSAA League record. Eagle Academy II coached by Kevin Hamilton, Jr. finished with an overall record of 23 – 6 and a PSAL League record of 12 – 2.
