Iona Prep wins CHSAA Archdiocese of NY Chip

BRONX, NY - In front of a packed gym at Mount St. Michael on Saturday afternoon Ty Jerome '16 put on a show as he scored 23 points in the opening half for Iona Prep, getting the Gaels out to a huge lead in the CHSAA Archdiocese of New York Championship Game against St. Raymond.

The Ravens did fight back and cut a once 19 point second half deficit down to just 6 in the fourth quarter, but clutch shots late helped open up the gap once more, and it was Iona Prep who would go on to claim their first ever Diocese Championship by defeating St. Ray's, 74-61.

There was doubt about Jerome's availability for this game as the junior guard, who is already committed to Virginia, has not played in the Gaels prior 3 games due to a hip flexor injury. It wasn't until yesterday that Jerome said he got the ok to give it a go.

"I knew on Thursday that I was going to play. I have been in physical therapy all week and practice on Friday went really well so I said yeah I am playing," Jerome said.

It's a good thing he did as well as right from the start the 6'3" Jerome put his stamp on the game.

He had 11 points in the opening eight minutes of the game, including a fall away 3 pointer at the end of the quarter buzzer to give the Gaels a 17-6 lead after 1, and it was at that point that Jerome said he knew he had something special going on.

"When I hit that shot at the end of the first quarter I knew I had it then," Jerome admitted.

He continued to take it to St. Raymond, connecting on threes from long range, and finding lanes to drive and finish, it didn't matter as he was finding ways to score from all over the floor.

With 23 points at the half, Jerome led Iona Prep into the half with a 37-19 lead as he hit back to back treys to send the Gaels up 18.

Iona Prep head coach Vic Quirolo said he never expected that kind of performance in the half from Jerome, laughingly saying that maybe he should get injured more often, while his Jerome's backcourt mate, Tom Capuano '15 said that when he is feeling it the way he was, it's easy to just let him do his thing.

"We are trying to win so we will let him have 70 points if he wants, we just want to win the game," Capuano said. "If he is hitting them like he was, he can keep shooting them."

While St. Raymond struggled on the offensive glass and with toughness in the opening 16 minutes, Ravens head coach Jorge Lopez gave a lot of credit to Jerome, saying that when a player comes out and performs at that level, it's incredibly tough to stop.

"When you have a performance like Ty had, it's very difficult to combat that," Lopez admitted.

Lopez was pleased though with what he saw in the 2nd half from his team as they did a bit better of a job closing out defensively, and Cahiem Brown '16 was able to do a nice job with putbacks and scoring chances inside, while Isaiah Washington '17 was playing wise beyond his years in the backcourt, leading the Ravens back into the game, cutting the deficit down to 61-55 with 5:38 to go in the game.

They had scrapped and clawed their way back into the game at that point, and Washington said that he felt as if his team was going to grab the win.

"They made a lot of shots in the first half and we were getting frustrated, but we came back and at that point we were saying we got this," Washington said.

It did seem like the Ravens had grabbed the momentum, but a corner 3 by Jerome seemed to deflate all the hopes that St. Raymond had started to gather. Capuano then created a steal and went all the way for a layup, and it was back to a double digits Iona Prep lead with under 3 minutes to go.

It may have looked easy for Iona Prep to withstand the St. Raymond 4th quarter charge, but that's why Capuano says there is so much value on the veteran leadership there group has.

"We just said we need to calm down. We still had the lead so there was no panic, and we are veterans who have been here before so it was a matter of just calming down and keep playing our game," Capuano said.

That's exactly what they did as it was a happy group of Gaels in the closing seconds as Iona Prep and their fans celebrated on the court after capturing the CHSAA Archdiocese of NY Title, taking it over St. Raymond, 74-61.

Jerome led the way, finishing with a game high 33 points and 8 rebounds, while Capuano and Matt Ryan '15 added 15 and 11 points respectively in the victory.

It's victory that Quirolo says means a lot to the Iona Prep program being that it's the school's first ever Diocese Championship, and a lot to him personally having been a spectator at many of these games in the past.

"I remember coming here for years when we were a Class "A" school and I would watch the game and I saw how talented the teams were and how hard they played. I was in awe," Quirolo said. "To now be here in this arena, it's very special."

The coach then went on to praise each and every member of the team for the effort given on Saturday, especially pointing out Jerome and his game, noting that when is in the kind of zone he was today, that he is a pretty special player.

St. Ray's was led by Brown's 17 points, while Washington added 16 in the defeat.

They are still in a good position going forward in the CHSAA Intersectional Playoffs which get underway on Wednesday. The Ravens have a bye to the quarterfinals and Washington believes that when they do step on the court next Sunday at Fordham University in the quarterfinals, that his team will be ready to go.

"This game is over so now it's time to put this behind us and focus on the city playoffs and coming out the way we know we can there," Washington said.

It was a solid effort from St. Raymond, but the Archdiocese Championship now belongs for the first time to Iona Prep, and while it's a great achievement, Capuano says the greater goal for the Gaels is still ahead in trying to capture the CHSAA Intersectional Championship.

"We got this one, and it's great, but now it's onto the next one."