Holy Cross Stuns St. Rays; Advances to CHSAA Semis

BRONX, NY - Coming into the CHSAA Intersectional Playoffs, not much expected out of Holy Cross.

The Knights struggled in their opening round playoff game against Stepinac, hanging on late for a 57-53 victory, and Sunday's quarterfinal brought an even more formidable foe in St. Raymond's, but led by a huge performance from Jermaine Bishop '15, Holy Cross was able to pull the stunner and take down the Ravens in overtime, 75-70 in a game played at Fordham University in the Bronx.

Having dealt with a pair of coaching changes over the past 3 seasons, Holy Cross has not been on the forefront of many people's minds as of late, but Knights forward Christian Wilson '16 said that he believed it was time for a turnaround to all that.

"Holy Cross has gone through a lot as of late and we felt like we were pushed to the side by people a bit and we wanted to change that today," Wilson said.

To do that they would need to get by St. Raymond, a team the Knights lost to during the regular season by 5, and that in itself seemed to give them some confidence coming in according to Bishop.

"That helped us a lot because it had us believe that we could get this," Bishop said.

It didn't start out well for Holy Cross though as St. Raymond jumped out to a quick 7-0 start, but even though it looked bad, the Knights didn't lose confidence as they came back strong off the poor start scoring 12 straight of their own to take the lead late in the opening quarter.

A long Cahiem Brown '16 three tied the game up at 16 after one, and it was 13 opening half points for the junior that helped St. Ray's 30-27 lead.

It wasn't terrible for Holy Cross though who hung around behind the long ball as they went 5 of 9 in the opening sixteen minutes from behind the arc to stay close.

St. Raymond seemed to be controlling the play to start the 2nd half once again going up by 6 just 2:14 into the 3rd, but Wilson knocked down a bit three to cut down the deficit again, and then Bishop came down off a turnover for the score.

It still looked as if the Ravens would take a 2 point lead into the 4th, but Wilson for Holy Cross pulled up at the top of the key and knocked down a straightaway three at the buzzer to give the Knights a 45-44 lead heading to the final eight minutes.

The 4th quarter looked as if it would go down to the wire, but Jamel Horton '16 got an offensive rebound and put in a miss while getting fouled to give the Knights a 58-55 lead with just 32 seconds to play.

It would become 61-58 in favor of Holy Cross, and with 10 seconds to go and Sid Wilson '17 would get a good look at a straightaway three but it fell off the side of the rim and Wilson for Holy Cross got the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line for a 1 and 1 with 8.8 seconds to go.

"I was 5 for 5 going up to that free throw so I was confident," Wilson said about heading to the line for Holy Cross in that spot.

The FT fell off the rim and Brown got the rebound and got the ball ahead to Wilson, and instead of fouling, Wilson for St. Ray's was able to get a good look at the buzzer which he banked in sending the crowd at Fordham in a frenzy and sending the game into OT tied at 61.

At that point it seemed as if the momentum belonged to St. Raymond, and there head coach Jorge Lopez figured the game was now almost a formality.

"When Sid hit that shot I thought for sure we were going to win the game. I felt we had all the momentum, but you have to give Holy Cross credit," Lopez said.

He said that because after Ravens big man Lydell Geffrard '16 finished in the paint to give the St. Raymond a two point lead, Bishop came right back and drove it all the way and finished it inside while getting fouled.

That proved to be big as it showed Holy Cross had a lot of fight left, something that Knights head coach Terry Tarpey said is all because of the leadership and play of Bishop.

"As soon as Sidney hit that shot, Jermaine spoke up and said it's time to respond," Tarpey stated.

That was just Bishop's mindset because as a senior, he says he felt the need to do whatever he could to help his team win, and in the OT session, he started to take over.

He finished around 2 defenders going down the right side to give Holy Cross a 70-67 lead 1:02 to go in the overtime, and then up by 3, it was time for a big rebound to be made by Holy Cross, and after Brown missed a runner in the lane for St. Ray's, Jamel Horton '16 was able to fight through two Ravens for the rebound with 16.8 to play.

It was a big moment for the junior as the Knights were just up by 3, but he calmly stepped up and knocked down both to up the Holy Cross lead to 73-68, and after pushing the ball up the court quickly, Isaiah Washington '17 was called for a travel, and that essentially ended all hope for St. Raymond with just 11.3 seconds to go.

Wilson hit on 2 more FT's for Holy Cross, and a late St. Ray's basket didn't make a difference as the Knights shocked St. Ray's, taking the game 75-70 in OT.

Bishop had a game high 27 points to go along with 6 assists and 5 rebounds for Holy Cross, while Wilson added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Horton chipped in with 12, and Chaz Platt '16 also had 11 in the solid team win for the Knights.

Brown led St. Ray's with 25 points, while Wilson added 15 as well for St. Ray's, who fell for the 2nd year in a row in the Intersectional Quarterfinals, and while it was a difficult loss to swallow, Wilson gave all the credit to a team that came to play in a big way in Holy Cross.

"After the shot I made to send it to overtime it seemed they got as much fuel from it as we did," Wilson said. "They made a lot of places down the stretch and I tip my hat to Holy Cross for getting the win."

After overcoming a subpar regular season that saw Holy Cross go 7-9 in league play, the Knights now find themselves in the CHSAA Intersectional Semifinals which will be played this Tuesday night. They will square off with perennial power Christ the King, and while they are all extremely happy and proud to just be in the situation they are in, Wilson says not to count Holy Cross out.

"We are going to give Christ the King all we got and take it as far as we can because the one thing I know is we believe and we will not quit."

Christ the King Advance Over St. Peter's, 73-58

The Royals were challenged early on as it was a 23-19 game midway through the 2nd quarter, but led by Rawle Alkins '16, CK was able to finish the half on an 11-0 run to take firm control in what proved to be a dominant 15 point victory.

Alkins had a huge game scoring 29 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists as the Royals led by as many as 23 early in the 4th quarter before the subs came in as CK cruised to the 73-58 win.

It wasn't just Alkins as Jared Rivers '16 had 17 points, 10 of which came in the 2nd half, while Tracy Cleckley '16 added 11 as well in the win.

St. Peter's struggled all day from beyond the arc, as the Eagles, who count on making a good percentage of their three pointers went just 4 of 24 from long range, with star Reilly Walsh '15 going 0 of 12 as the Royals defense did a tremendous job on the NJIT bound guard from start to finish.

With the victory, Christ the King will meet up with Holy Cross in one CHSAA Intersectional Semifinal that will take place this Tuesday at 8pm back at Fordham University.