Mountaineers Climb Stepinac; Wins 1st CHSAA NY Chip
BRONX, NY – The embers were stoked on Saturday as packed Mt. Saint Michael gym played host to yet another CHSAA NY Sectional Finals. Only this year, for the first time, the Mountaineers were not only the hosts but also the victors as they topped Archbishop Stepinac to win the Class “AA” championship
With senior shooting guard Elijah Buchanan ‘17 leading the charge, Mount forged ahead early in the game and fought back an ever-charging Crusader’s squad to take home a 73 – 69 victory. “We survived,” said Buchanan after the game. “We’re the underdogs. Nobody believed in us in the beginning. Now everybody looks at Mount.”
The win was historic for the high school but it was a total team effort. 6’5” big man Joe Bull ’17 pounded in the paint with help from 6’4” high flying Jacob Rodriquez ‘17 and point guard 5’10” Mike Green ‘19. . Buchanan along with the trio pushed Mount St. Michaels ahead 14 – 1 late in the opening quarter but perimeter baskets by 6'0" Payton Hudson '18 and Alan Griffin ‘18 narrowed the gap to seven point for Stepinac as the quarter ended.
The Crusaders pulled even closer as Griffin continued to connect but the Mountaineers were not deterred. Buchanan and 6’2” Mike Krause ‘18 countered, joined by 6’4” Ibrahim Wattere ‘20 and Rodriguez and suddenly Stepinac found themselves back down by 12 points with 3 minutes remaining in the first half.
Although he was hampered by a meniscus tear that will require surgery, Griffin was a man on a mission, scoring late in the half. At the midway point Stepinac was once again only down, 34 – 29.
As in the first quarter, Mount St. Michaels entered the third quarter with gun blazing. Head college coaches from Manhattan College and Quinnipiac watched intently as Buchanan proceeded to launch a one man aerial attack that left the Mountaineers ahead by 15 points with 6 minutes still left in the quarter.
5’11” point guard R.J. Davis ‘20 came alive in the second half and responded offensively which helped trim the Crusaders deficit to eight points by the end of the third quarter. Griffin then ignited once again in the fourth quarter and with 51.4 seconds left to play, the Mountaineers only led 68 – 63.
Stepinac tried to trap Green on the inbound pass and Mount St. Michael was forced to call two time outs. Once the inbound was completed, Stepinac quickly fouled the sophomore. Inconsistent free-throw shooting by the Mountaineers and clutch treys by Griffin and with 11.5 seconds left in regulation, Stepinac was within two-points.
The Crusaders fouled Buchanan but the senior missed the first and hit the second. Stepinac got the ball upcourt and Griffin was rose up to take a three-ball for the tie but Buchanan redeemed himself with a clutch block. “I told myself that the only way he was going to miss is if I block that shot so I took a chance,” said Buchanan.
Rodriguez got the loose ball and was sent to the charity stripe with 2.4 ticks on the clock. He also went one of two but that was enough to put the Mountaineers up by four points for the win.
“We should’ve done a better job of keeping the game close in the first half and the third quarter,” said Stepinac head coach Pat Massaroni. “I don’t think we matched their physicality from the start and when we did, we were already down 15.”
Buchanan was high man for Mt. Saint Michael with 24 points with Rodriquez adding 19 points. Griffin led Stepinac with a game high 39 points.
