FLUSHING, NY – For the Holy Cross Knights, Sunday evening’s CHSAA season opener was meant to set the tone. Defeating the Xaverian Clippers would be no easy task but led by the efforts and energy of 6’7” Dylan Stanley ‘25, Cross prevailed, 52 – 42.

The Knights took an early 5 – 0 lead as Stanley and 6’3” Aston Lewis successfully beat back Xaverian’s advances. The Clippers gained their footing late in the warm-up quarter, tying the game at 8 with 2:12 left in the quarter, spearheaded by the efforts of Stan Dhondt ‘25 and Jordan King ‘25.

Holy Cross held a slim 2-point lead to start the second quarter but found it difficult to expand on its lead. The Knights held home court advantage and a lead throughout the second quarter and extended its lead to 24 – 19 as 5’9”Brian Hsu ‘26 netted a clutch 3 pointer.

Xaverian was relentless and never gave up. Eventually, King and Brandon Margolin ‘25 knotted the game at 33 heading into the final quarter. In the end, Holy Cross regained the lead, imposing their height advantage to win by double digits.

Stanley led Holy Cross with 15 points while King paced Xaverian with 8 points.