Hayes Dropkicks St. Ray’s; Wins CHSAA NY Sectionals
BRONX, NY – For senior Cardinal Hayes point guard Joe Toussaint ‘19, Saturday’s CHSAA Class “AA” Varsity New York Sectional championship game against the St. Raymond Ravens would be the last chance for his team to claim dominance in the League. Last season, the Cardinals lost to Stepinac in the chip but the Iowa-bound guard said he was not about to let that happen again. After going neck and neck with the Ravens in the first half, Hayes got separation in the third quarter en route to a definitive, 86 – 65 victory.
“It was very important for us to win, seeing that were in the same spot last year and took a tough loss,” said Toussaint. “It seemed like were ready coming into this game. It’s my last year so I’m trying to go out with a bang.”
Toussaint and his 5’11” compadre Jaylen Murray ‘20 indeed came out the gate with a bang for Cardinal Hayes but the Ravens kept pace as 5’8” point guard Jalen Reneau ‘20 and 6’6” Gary Grant ‘20 knotted the game at 17 after one quarter of play. 6’3” Tahron Allen ‘21 got buckets in the for St. Ray’s in the second quarter but with crickets coming offensively from the usually prolific 6’2” Luis Kortright ‘20, Hayes inched ahead 40 – 35 at the half as 5’11” Julien Sourmaoro ‘20 dropped three treys in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Hayes clamped down defensively holding the Ravens to two field goals in the quarter. Meanwhile Toussaint pumped up the volume as did 6’7” Shemani Fuller ‘20 who splashed down alley-oops throughout the contest. A five-point halftime deficit morphed into an 18-point crater for St. Ray’s as the final quarter got underway.
The Cardinals also controlled the boards as 6’9” Adam Cisse ‘19 and Fuller crashed them with regularity. At its worst, St. Raymond trailed 21 points midway through the fourth and both Hayes and St. Raymond subbed out with 1:30 left on the clock.
Cardinals head coach Joe Lods said the Toussaint, who was not at his usual MVP level of play during the playoffs, came in focused during the championship. “He was all business today. He told me he was just biding his time waiting for the time he really needed to separate himself and I think he did today.”
Now Toussaint said his focus is on ending his high school career with Hayes by winning the 2019 CHSAA Class “AA” Varsity Intersectional champions “We got three game left to win the City Championship. I got unfinished business,” he said.
Toussaint was the high scorer for Cardinal Hayes with 24 points with Fuller and Murray contributing 16 point and 15 points respectively. Allen led St. Raymond with 22 points with Grant adding 18 points.
