Hayes Sets St. Ray’s Home Opener Ablaze
BRONX, NY – It was the home opener for St. Raymond. The bonus was that the Raven’s opponents would be their borough archrival Cardinal Hayes. With the Cardinals currently ranked #1 in the NYCHoops.net preseason rankings, the cherry on top would be for the #6 ranked St. Ray’s to get an upset win.
For three and half quarters, it appeared as if the undersized Ravens squad had the winning formula to silence the naysayers. Tenacious team defense, scrappy rebounding by committee and a dynamic freshmen point guard in 5’10” Tai Turnage ’25, who more than proved that he’s varsity ready in his home court debut.
But unable to keep up the intensity when Hayes countered with their physicality and bigness down the stretch, St. Ray's offense began to falter . The Raven’s stalled at 64 points with 4 minutes left to play and ultimately lost 74 – 65.
“[The Ravens] really pressured us,” said Hayes head coach Joe Lods. “They got after us, and they really came to play tonight.” Lods said he had to go deep into his bag [of tricks] to pull out a 1-3-1 zone to slow the Ravens down.
Ahead by 4-points after one quarter due to buckets by 6’2” Elijah Castillo ‘22 and 6’1” Isaiah Philbert ‘22, St. Raymond kept the pressure on with Tunage who made the right plays at the right time. Whether it was a clutch and contested three-ball or setting the table for a teammate, the freshman PG was wise beyond his years. At the half, Cardinal Hayes trailed 40 - 33
“[Tunage] is definitely on the way up,” said Coach Lods. “If he were a wall street stock I’d definitely invest.”
For most of the game, the Ravens were living by the three, In the fourth quarter they began to die by it. Hayes began to capital on those misses with Tobe Awaka ‘22 inhaling defensive rebounds and converting into twos and threes.
Cardinals 5’9” point guard DJ Victory ‘22 began controlling the pace, protecting the rock, and getting to the charity stripe. 6’7” Tarique Foster ‘22, and underrated 4-5 , raised his game above the rim. Still down 57 – 55 to start the final quarter, Hayes knotted the game at 64 and smoked the Ravens who were ice cold from the perimeter with a 10 – 1 run to seal the deal.
Lods touted the play of Foster who led the Cardinals with 19 points. “He’s really worked on his game. He’s got college offers. He’s a coach’s dream. He’s a big guy. He’s long. He’s a sweetheart off the court but he’s a monster on the court.” Victory finished with 18 points. Turnage paced St. Raymond with 18 points which included three 3-pointers.
