BRONX, NY - The CHSAA is one of the best leagues in the country and two of their best programs faced off on Tuesday night. We went into the Raven’s nest and watched St. Rays take league champs Stepinac. This was a battle to the very end, and we can’t wait for you to read this one.
While the crowd filled up at St. Raymonds we got the first basket from 6’5” G Brandon Stores Jr. (St. Raymond, NY ‘25 )who will be headed to Georgia Tech next season hit their first three. 6’0” PG Danny Carbuccia (Archbishop Stepinac, NY ‘25) who is a UMass commit answered with a three and quickly knotted the score. Stores scored on a layup, and 6’5” SG Jasiah Jervis (Archbishop Stepinac, NY ‘26 ) split a pair of free throws. Ravens big man scored, but the Crusaders missed a three. St. Ray’s scored, Stepinac missed and 6’4” SG Najay Bess (St. Raymond, NY ‘26 )got his first bucket.
Stepinac turned it over, Stores knocked down a jumper, St. Ray’s led 15-6 and then Bess drilled a big three. Carbuccia drew a foul, made both, and helped Stepinac get a stop which led to two more free throws to end the quarter. Rays turned it over, Carbuccia got ahead of everyone for two, Ravens missed and Stepinac knocked down a three. They scored again. Stores stopped the bleeding with an and1. Jervis got loose for two, but Stores answered.
Jervis went on a 4-0 run, and the Ravens made two free throws got a stop hit a three but gave a huge slam to Stepinac. Ray’s got a good look, missed, almost got the loose ball but then gave up a back-breaking three to end the first half. Stepinac tied it up 28-28 and had the momentum despite not playing up to their standard. Ravens scored first, Stepinac lost the ball, Bess buried a three, Crusaders missed, and Rays scored. Stepinac answered with a massive poster dunk. Jervis then hit a three after a steal and 6’6” PG Hassan Koureissi (Archbishop Stepinac, NY '26)made both his free throws.
Koureissi found Jervis for two for the lead, and the Ravens missed. Carbuccia scored, Ray’s threw it away and Step added two more free throws. Stores converted a tough bucket. Stepinac missed, Bess turned down a shot, and his teammate hit a triple off his pass then he scored after a Crusader turnover. Ravens got another bucket, and Jervis converted an and1. Stores missed, Stepinac scored, and Stores added a free throw. Koureissi had a big hoop late to give the Crusaders a slight 47-44 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Stepinac started with a hoop from Koureissi, and the Ravens turned it over. Koureissi made two free throws, but the Rays threw it over. Koureissi went 1/2 from the line and the Ravens drew a foul. They made them both, Koureissi scored again, and Stores three down a massive slam. Stepinac finished a putback after Ray’s miss, and Koureissi scored at the rim once again. Ravens missed, Stepinac hit a three, and Ray’s big man scored. Crusaders shot rattled out, Bess knocked down a three from the wing, but Koureissi blew by the defense for two more.
Koureissi’s outburst had them up 63-53 with just 2:37 on the clock but things changed. The Ravens hit a three and then pressed with almost everyone up almost daring Stepinac to play offense. We saw the Crusaders rush a shot, Bess made two free throws, Stepinac rushed a corner three and missed then fouled Stores. He made them both cutting it to one. Carbuccia scored a huge bucket after killing some time, the Rays turned it over and had to foul.
The crowd erupted as Carbuccia went to the line, he missed the first bucket, then missed the second and the Ravens were off. Ravens got a great look for Bess who just missed a three, the ball was loose, and as Stepinac grabbed it the Rays swarmed. Crusaders called timeout, they got the ball to Koureissi, and he made them both to put them up five with 13 minutes to go. Ravens tried to rush but almost turned it over and while the Stepinac staff yelled don’t foul. He finished a layup at the buzzer, but it was too late.
Stepinac had won 67-64 with an excellent second half from Koureissi who led Stepinac with 17 points, Jervis added 15 points and Carbuccia was huge with 13 points. This will sting the Ravens whose comeback fell short. They had their moments and are a serious threat. Stores is special, he led the Ravens with 18 points while Bess shined as well with 15 points. We might have seen a preview of the CHSAA championship tonight and round 1 goes to Stepinac.
