Power Surge Lifts Stepinac Over Iona Prep
WHITE PLAINS, NY - Anytime Iona Prep and Stepinac renew their storied rivalry, one which has heightened in the past few years, a battle is promised.
Two years after this epic, marquee matchup led to a jam-packed and standing room only environment at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, the location and neutral court shifted to Draddy Gymnasium at Manhattan College.
Following a momentum-seizing, 10-4 run which capped off the first half and tied it at 28-all, Stepinac came out of the second half gates red hot.
They erupted for a wild 16-3 run, culminated by a pulsating dunk by Joel Baez and a corner 3-pointer from senior guard Samuel Gibbs, which busted the game open en route to a 60-48-win Friday night.
Stepinac's Class of 2024 forward Braylan Ritvo scored a team-best 13 points, including back-to-back transition layups (off feeds from first-year point guard Danny Carbuccia) as Stepinac scored 11 of the game's first 14 second half points during a sheer offensive onslaught.
Ritvo, who has materialized as a versatile scoring threat and is emblematic of the depth this 9-2 Stepinac team has even without prized guard Boogie Fland, hit a 3-pointer to make it 53-38 right before the third quarter buzzer.
Iona Prep refused to whittle under the weight of the run. Point guard Blaise New got into the lane on a drive and finish that cut it to 13, 53-40. Stepinac, however, extended the lead back to 15 as Ben Lyttle scored inside to give the Crusaders a commanding 55-40 bulge in the fourth.
Stepinac awoke during the 10-4 run which closed out the first half.
Head coach Pat Massaroni, who was visibly incensed with what he characterized as a dismal first half and a subpar performance (he called it the worst half of the season), emphasized the need to play tougher after the break.
His halftime speech surely didn't fall on any deaf ears.
Stepinac came alive instantly, with Gibbs (11 points) burying a 3-pointer to break the 28-28 deadlock.
Ritvo scored on a hard baseline drive. New countered the bucket with a mid-range pull-up that cut it to 33-30, before Baez turned a fireball high low feed into an easy uncontested layup to seal a 7-2 sequence.
Hustle points, extra passes, transition leak-outs, and a fluid high-low attack spurred a sizzling start for Iona Prep, which entered the game as the inferior opponent on paper.
A.J. Rodriguez scored eight early points and R.J. Green scored on back-to-back drives to give Iona Prep an 18-13 lead with 6:10 to play in the second quarter.
Gibbs answered with a 3-pointer and Isaiah Alexander converted a turnover into a transition dunk.
Iona Prep's Mike Ryan scored on a thorough take and Green got downhill and into traffic for a gutty bucket, building a 24-18 lead.
Stepinac then rattled off its run behind Carbuccia, who has engineered a breakneck attack and really adapted to the role of dish first facilitator. He scored a nifty bank shot which with one minute, 40 seconds remaining.
Moments later, he got loose for a fast break laying that cut the deficit to two, 26-24.
Alexander scored on a catch and finish around the rim and Ben Lyttle scored just before the halftime buzzer to knot it all up at 28.
Stepinac adjusted to the personnel and were able to convert vital turnovers into scoring opportunities as they embarked on a game-altering, third quarter buckets binge.
Both teams were missing some important figures. While Stepinac was without the hotly pursued high major point guard Fland, Iona Prep continues to play without 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Jaylen Pray.
Pray, who also has a handful of Division-1 offers during this embryonic phase of his career, injured himself in a fall league game and is out for the season.
Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello , who has churned out several high-level players from the Westchester County area during his time at the helm, sat courtside throughout.
Masiello, who played at Stepinac before prolonging his career at Kentucky as a walk on, has currently offered and continues to actively recruit players from both teams.