Girls: CHSAA State Championships

BRONX, NY- A beautiful Saturday in New York City to watch some basketball, it was CHSAA State Championship Day at Fordham University with the State Championships for Class AA, A, and B taking place on the home court of the Rams.

Each of the three games that took place had interesting storylines going in, and it proved to be an exciting and intriguing day of action. NYCHoops.net was on hand throughout the day taking in the action to now provide you with a recap of how the games played out, with the question now answered as to who will represent the CHSAA in two weeks’ time at the NYS Federation Tournament of Champions.

There was no need to have to motivate Christ the King coming into Saturday evening's CHSAA Class AA State Championship Game. Coming in they not only wanted the coveted title, but their 27-0 undefeated record was on the line providing any additional ammunition they needed to finish things out and bring home the championship trophy.

It wasn't a great start for the Royals, but they buckled down defensively in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead, a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way as Kaelynn Satterfield '19 led all scorers with 25 points to help propel Christ the King to the State Championship, taking down Cardinal O'Hara 74-48.

With all the history attached to the Christ the King program not one player on the Royals team has experienced a CHSAA State Championship, a notion not lost on senior guard Brandy Thomas '18 who said she was extra motivated on Saturday to make sure she went out on top.

"I knew this team was very capable because we have a lot of all-stars on this team and we just needed to make sure we played with confidence to get the job done," Thomas said about the mindset coming in on Saturday.

While understanding the task at hand, and confident in their ability to get it done the first bucket of the game was a three from the right wing by O'Hara's Nickelle O'Neil '18. It put the Lady Hawks up 3-0, though that would be the last lead that they had for the remainder of the game.

Christ the King would rattle off the next 9 points as Satterfield would drain a pair of three's as she had 8 points in the opening quarter to see the Royals go up 14-10 after one.

Opening the second quarter with an 11-0 run, Christ the King would take a 25-10 lead as Cardinal O'Hara struggled to get position inside against the size of the Royals, and with the undefeated Brooklyn/Queens power able to get out and go on the break after Lady Hawk misses, it led to easy baskets the other way to build up the Royals lead.

Taking a lead as large as 18 in the second quarter, Angel Parker '19 and Cierra Harrison '18 would close the half strong as they combined to score the last 5 points of the half to help Cardinal O'Hara chip away and get within 32-21 of Christ the King at the half.

It was a solid first half of play for the Royals knowing they were 16 more minutes away from a CHSAA State Championship, but with O'Hara putting together a big 3rd quarter yesterday to rally back from a deficit in the semifinals against St. Anthony's, Royals head coach Bob Mackey said he implored his team to keep the intensity up and finish the game strong.

"They outscored St. Anthony's in the 3rd yesterday 25-6 and they outscored Sacred Heart 23-7 in their finals in Buffalo," Mackey said. "I knew they were going to throw the kitchen sink at us and we needed to be ready."

Taking Mackey's message to heart Christ the King outscored O'Hara 18-14 in the third quarter as Nina Rickards '19 was aggressive in pulling up off the dribble and connecting from the midrange, while Satterfield once again was able to use her strength to get to the rim and counter every Cardinal O'Hara run to lead by 15 going to the 4th.

With everything pointing Christ the King's way the Royals would finish out the game strong with Natalija Marshall '20 and Klarke Sconiers '19 putting back perimeter misses around the rim and pushing the Royals lead to over 20. With under 2 minutes to go and the game in hand Mackey would make mass substitutions to get everyone in the game with Christ the King winning their first CHSAA State Title since 2014-2015 by defeating Cardinal O'Hara 74-48.

Getting a true all-around team effort, it was Satterfield who paced Christ the King with 25 points, but with Marshall adding 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Rickards chipping in with 13 points, it was a great game all around from the unbeaten Royals.

In defeat Cardinal O'Hara got 14 points from Harrison, while Parker added 13 points for the Lady Hawks who their season 21-7 and becoming the first Buffalo team to make the CHSAA Class AA State Title game, an achievement that head coach Nick O'Neil said he is very proud of.

Pushing through injuries, a tough schedule, and anything and everything Mackey could throw at them, Christ the King has continually responded in a major way and now can be called state champions. It's truly a dream way for the seniors to close out their CHSAA careers as well with Thomas saying that these have been moments this season that she will never forget.

"It's a magical season honestly," Thomas said with a big smile. "It's a fairytale."

A fairytale that still has more to go as 30-0 and a Federation Title in now within reach for this very special group of Royals.

After falling to Kellenberg in last year's CHSAA Class A State Championship Game, Sacred Heart Academy made it a mission this season to right that wrong and get the job done, with just St. John Villa standing in their way of finishing out their mission.

One person especially motivated was guard Micaela Ryan '18 who struggled to get going from the outside against the Firebirds one year ago. That wasn't a problem this time around though as the Elon bound senior opening connecting on her first 4 attempts from behind the arc, finishing with 30 points and 15 rebounds in what was a start to finish 62-49 victory for the Sharks.

A main reason why Sacred Heart head coach Carrie Owens felt they were able to get going as quickly as they did was the defense that St. John Villa threw at that them. They played a flat 3-2 zone which really shocked the first-year head coach of the Sharks.

"I was really surprised to see them in that zone because even if you haven't watched us play at all you can go on line and look at stats and see that Micaela is a big time three-point shooter," Owens stated.

That zone in the opening quarter let Ryan get on track quickly as she had 10 points in the opening quarter, and 18 points in the first half to see the Sharks open a 35-24 lead at the break.

It could've been an even bigger lead for Sacred Heart Academy if not for the play of Gianna Kroczynski '18 as she had 9 in the second quarter to help keep the Bears within striking distance.

With the Sharks torching the St. John Villa zone to the tune of 7 made opening half three's, the Bears went to a man defense to start the 3rd quarter, but that just let Micaela's sister Siobhan Ryan '20 get going off the dribble, and with Micaela coming off screens for good looks, the Sacred Hear lead continued to expand.

Credit to St. John Villa for not giving up as in the 4th quarter they were able to make a run to get the deficit down to 10, but Jennifer Grimm '19 was a handful late in the paint as she finished around the rim on three straight possession as the firepower of Sacred Heart Academy wore the Bears down in the closing minutes as the Sharks would ultimately win their 2nd CHSAA Class A State Title in 3 years as led by the Ryan sisters Sacred Heart came away with a 62-49 championship game victory.

Micaela had 30 points and 15 rebounds, with Siobhan adding 12 points as the Ryan sisters put the CHSAA on notice that they are among the best 1-2 duos in New York State.

For St. John Villa is was 24 points for Kroczynski who led the way in what was a great individual performance in what otherwise was a tough Bears outing in the loss.

Sacred Heart Academy now will move on to the NYS Federation Tournament of Champions in 2 weeks’ time as the CHSAA representative in Class A, but for now both Ryan sisters say they are going to enjoy this victory. It was a disappointing end to last season, but Siobhan noted that there were 2 Ryan sisters on the last title winning Sharks team, meaning this time around it was destiny they finished the job again.

"Two years ago, when my older sister Kathleen was a senior and Micaela was a sophomore we won it and now Micaela is a senior and I'm a sophomore, so I guess it was meant to be," Ryan said with a big smile.

Before the game Aquinas head coach Roger "Red" Collier said he felt that his team would go as far as his forward's Ronella Kennedy '18 and Lauren Malcolm '18 took them on Saturday. He knew St. Dominic was a good team and felt he needed his interior duo to play big if they wanted to come away with the victory.

He got exactly what he wanted as Malcolm had 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Kennedy added 17 points and 14 rebounds as they were double trouble inside in what was a blowout 69-43 victory for the Lady Bears.

Once Collier saw his two post players taking care of their business inside he moved the game to the perimeter where Kira Villegas '18 shined as she had 24 points to help Aquinas dominate from start to finish to help the Lady Bears win their 3rd straight Class B State Title in very impressive fashion.

Sarah Buonaguro '20 scored 26 points for the Bayhawks to lead all scorers but it was all about Aquinas on Saturday as they once again got the job done.

It's another championship headed to Aquinas in the Bronx as they now have three in a row, and it's a special one for Collier who says this win just goes to show what hard work and dedication can do.

"This really means a lot. It's a great way for our seniors to go out because what better way would you want to leave then as champions."