Ravens Blow Past Gaels
As far as tune-ups go, St. Raymond couldn't have asked for anything more on Tuesday evening. In the first semifinal of the New York Diocese tournament, the NYC Hoops #3 Ravens stomped All Hallows, 90-67, in its prep for a match-up with archrival Rice in Saturday's championship.
In front of a sparse crowd at its home gym, St. Ray's opened the game with a 10-4 run, but a three by Juan Diaz quickly split the Ravens' lead. Darryl Bryant answered for St. Ray's with a three of his own, making it 13-7 in favor of the Ravens, but the game Gaels – who only dressed six players – eventually cut the St. Raymond lead to 17-16.
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From that point on, however, St. Ray's would impose its will on the undermanned All Hallows team. The Ravens, behind seven points from Omari Lawrence and five from Bryant, ended the first quarter on a 14-1 run, grabbing a 31-17 advantage after one.
All Hallows had one more chance to pull within single digits, but center Devon Collier missed a pair of free throws at 33-22. Guard Justin Alston then drained a three on the other end for St. Ray's to push the lead to 14. The Ravens led 52-33 at halftime.
In the second half, the game turned from a blowout into an out-and-out laugher, as St. Ray's ran roughshod over the Gaels, putting together a seemingly endless assault of alley-oops and dunks en route to a 77-44 lead after three. Halfway through the fourth quarter, St. Ray's head coach Oliver Antigua was able to pull his starters.
Lawrence led the scoring for St. Raymond, racking up 24 points, and Bryant contributed 18 of his own. Pulling much of the weight for All Hallows was Collier, who put up 25 points. Guard Rashawn Stores chipped in 16 for the Gaels.
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