Ravens avoid trap, remain undefeated
STATEN ISLAND, NY- Coming off a win over Cardinal Hayes on Friday, and with a pair of games this upcoming week ahead against rivals Mount St. Michael and one of New York's best in Stepinac, Sunday afternoon's game in Staten Island against St. Peter's was the definition of a trap game according to Ravens head coach Jorge Lopez.
He's seen it before where his team is playing well but might be looking ahead to a future game and they get picked off but a well-coached and talented Eagles team. Playing without star forward Gary Grant '20 because of an illness made St. Raymond's task even harder, but this is not your ordinary Ravens team.
They took a 15-2 lead out of the gate and never allowed St. Peter's to get comfortable from the very start. The Eagles never quit and did get it into single digits in the fourth quarter, but behind 31 points from Luis Kortright '20 it was St. Raymond doing exactly what they needed to do, downing St. Peter's, 79-61.
This being a scary game for the Ravens was a major talking point that Lopez stressed to his team on the ride out from the Bronx to Staten Island, with Kortright saying it was really drilled into their heads that they couldn't bring anything less than their best effort to leave with a victory.
"Coach told us today is a trap game because we have to come here on a Sunday at their home and it never goes our way out here," Kortright said. "We just had to lock in and prepare for the refs to not give us calls we want and make sure we held our composure."
Playing without Grant would make the challenge even tougher, but with the wing under the weather he sends out a text to all the players telling them to get the W for him, and that's exactly what they set out to do.
Getting out of the gate quick was enormous as well as it took the. St. Peter's crowd out of the game and gave St. Ray's a quick cushion. Malachi Smith '21 was able to drive and get to the basket easily in transition for 6 quick points and it was 15-2 for the Ravens midway through the opening quarter.
Another thing that Lopez preached to his team was to not let Eagles star Liam Murphy '20 get touches. He knew what the Columbia commit could do from the outside and said it was priority number one for them to make sure his chances at scoring were limited.
"Him being the best player on the team, we know what he is capable of doing," Lopez explained. "One of the things we decided to do was we were going to limit his touches and we were going to try and drive him off the three-point line every chance we got."
With Murphy's looks being contested every time he got a shot up early on, he made a conscious effort to attack the basket more in the second quarter. St. Ray's allowed him the leeway to get to the rim and he would score 10 points in a short five-minute span before the half to see the Eagles get within 26-24.
Credit to the Ravens though as they could've seen the momentum really shift there but Kortright stepped back and was fouled on a three point shot, draining all three FT's, and that was followed by a Kortright made three ball off a beautiful feed from Smith to see the lead for St. Raymond jump from 2 to 8 in just 26 seconds. That was an enormous stretch as the Ravens would ultimately clamp down defensively and go on a 12-3 run to close out the first half and take a 38-27 lead into the locker room.
That strong play at the half continued to carry over into the third quarter as well as Kortright continued to have the hot hand so Smith and Reggie Hudson '20 continued to feed him in spots where he could finish. Matt Bedford '20 was a strong weapon from the outside to keep St. Peter's within striking distance though as it was a 57-47 game in the closing seconds of the quarter.
Murphy drove to the rim and while he thought he was fouled just before the end of third quarter buzzer there was no call. Kortright got the rebound and heaved up a shot from beyond halfcourt that was nothing but net meaning instead of St. Peter's being within 8 had Murphy's shot gone, it was a 13 point lead for St. Ray's, a huge point in the game that Kortright said was something of a dagger.
"It was a big shot because they were on a run and could've gotten the game to single digits so we needed something big and it happened for us," Kortright said with a smile. "I hit the halfcourt shot and it was a good feeling."
St. Peter's got the deficit on a couple of occasions down to 9 in the fourth but they couldn't get closer as the defense on Murphy denying him looks from the outside where he went 0-5 on the day was tremendous, and with the Smith and Kortright duo dominating down the stretch it was the Ravens coming away with an all-important victory, leaving Staten Island and going back to the Bronx with the 79-61 win.
Besides the aforementioned 31 points for Kortright it was Smith chipping in with 23 as they were able to control the game on both sides of the floor to help the Ravens come away with the victory.
In the defeat for St. Peter's, Murphy led the way with a team high 23 points.
It wasn't a perfect performance for the St. Raymond as Lopez noted that they were beaten on the glass a bit too much for his liking, and there were times that they allowed St. Peter's to get back into the game when they could put them away, but all in all going out to Staten Island and leaving to head back home with a victory left Lopez proud knowing it's another step passed in their quest to be among New York's elite this season.
