Iona Prep Ends Stepinac Winning Streak
NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The ongoing rivalry between the Iona Prep Gaels and the Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders has become epic. A high school event so big that their fourth battle had to be held at Iona College and even then, the game has been sold out since last Thursday.
The matches between the neighboring Westchester schools has been dominated in the past by the Crusaders who’ve won the last three games. The last collision between Iona Prep and Stepinac ended with double overtime, edge of your seat thriller but the outcome of Saturday’s fourth contest was different.
A team effort by the Gaels plus a well thought out strategy made the fourth time a charm, giving Iona Prep a significant 75 – 67 win over Stepinac. “We needed this one,” said Bryce Wills ‘18 who led Iona Prep with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. “We wanted to secure that first spot in the Bronx/Westchester Catholic League, so we need this win. This was a rivalry game and a must win game. This was huge and a big game overall.”
According to Gaels Head Coach Steve Alvarez, the keys to victory was to limit the effectiveness of Crusaders point guard R.J. Davis ‘20. While the sophomore was somewhat minimized, in the second half, Iona Prep was initially getting plastered by Alan Griffin ‘18 and Ed Minaya ‘19 from the perimeter in the first half as they netted 16 points and 11 points respectively. Davis was also somewhat effective in opening half, notching 8 points and 6 of the team’s 9 first half assists.
After trailing by 3 points at the end of the opening quarter, Iona Prep found themselves down 42 – 30 at the half. The Gaels may have had and valid plan of attack, but it was simply not being implemented but Wills said they pumped up the volume in the second half. “We just locked in on defense in the second half and we kept pushing.” Alvarado added, “We decided to be more physical.”
Wills and Souleymane Koureissi '18 provided the lion’s share of Iona Prep’s points but the Gaels also got key baskets from Josh Alexander '18, Zedrek Farrell '18 and Romar Reid '18. “It wasn’t just one person,” said Wills. “That’s what we preach at Iona Prep.”
With Griffin still hitting big shot after big shot, Stepinac led by 8 as the third quarter came to an end but a momentum shift was palpable as the Gaels defensive adjustments began to yield fruit. Dunks in transition by Wills and Koureissi sparked Iona Prep and pumped up the crowd. An 11 -3 Gaels run knotted the game at 59 with five minutes left in regulation.
Stepinac took a three-point lead but an and-1 by Wills quickly vanquished that advantage. Wills scored soon after and Iona Prep had its first lead since the score as 2 – 0 in the warm-up quarter. Tempers flared as frustration set in for the Crusaders. A tech on Griffin sent Reid to the foul line where he was pure. Iona Prep was also given possession and a subsequent basket by Koureissi increased the Crusader’s deficit to 6 points.
Stepinac frantically tried to close the gap as time was quickly running out on a comeback attempt. Davis and Griffin did manage to trim Iona Prep’s lead down to two points with 31.6 but a strong finish by Koureissi led to an 8-point Gaels win. “My coaches and my teammate have belief in my and they told me in order to win this game I’d have to pick it up in the second half,” said Koureissi who only had three-points in the first half.
“They’re size and length got to us a little bit,” Crusader’s head coach Pat Massaroni confessed after the game. “I thought defensively we weren’t as aggressive as we were in the first half.”
Koureissi ended up being Iona Prep’s second leading scorer with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Alexander added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Griffin paced Stepinac with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Davis finished with 13 points and 7 assists.
