Revenge: Molloy puts down Loughlin to win B/Q chip
MIDDLE VILLAGE, NY- With the memory of last season's Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Championship Game defeat to Bishop Loughlin in their minds, Archbishop Molloy was motivated and ready to go from the opening tip on Friday night, wanting to take the crown they have been wanting now for over a year.
A motivated Stanners team proved to be a tough Stanners team as Cole Anthony '19 proved to be near unstoppable in the backcourt as the sophomore guard led the way with 32 points to push Molloy to the title, downing the Lions 80-67.
Playing with a stomach virus during the B/Q title game last season as a freshman, Anthony wasn't himself as Archbishop Molloy fell to Loughlin 79-67, and that memory was fresh in his mind not just leading up into this game, but all year long.
"This has been in the back of my head since last year, since that day," Anthony admitted. "I played with a stomach virus and I still feel like we should've won, but that was a learning opportunity and we have fed off that since last year."
It was a desire to not just win the championship for himself, but to bring the glory back to Archbishop Molloy, a school with a decorated history and past that Anthony says he has wanted to bring back to the forefront.
Friday was there chance to do just that, and from the start it was the Stanners who seemed to be the hungrier, and fresher team as Bishop Loughlin was just 48 hours removed from a Double OT classic in the semifinals against Christ the King.
The game was tight for much of the early going though as with 4:51 left in the 2nd quarter, Tyrese Gaffney '17 tied the game up at 23 with a pair of FT's after a nice drive down the left side going at Molloy big man Moses Brown '18, giving him his second foul and sending him to the bench for the rest of the half.
You could easily have considered that a danger time for Molloy, but Jackson Vertucci '17 would bury a three down at the other end from the right wing, and that seemed to push the Stanners the through the second quarter as Anthony turned up his game, allowed Molloy to close the half on a 16-6 run to go up 39-29 at the break.
Even Archbishop Molloy head coach Mike McCleary noted that having Brown on the bench was not optimal for his team's success, but he said that playing without him opened things up for his team as other players stepped up in his absence.
"We are a little different team without him," McCleary explained. "We focus on getting him the ball so much that when he isn't in the game we move the ball a little better, but we were able to get to the rim and foul line which helped us there."
Add that to the fact that McCleary felt Anthony was in complete control of the game, not just with his shooting, but with his ability to control the tempo of the game, and things were starting to trend exactly the way the coach said he wanted.
It just continued into the third as Anthony was able to score on a beautiful reverse down the baseline, finishing while getting fouled, and even though Keith Williams '17 was started to get more involved offensively after a quiet opening half, the Loughlin defense struggled to contain the Stanners guards, with Anthony scoring 13 points in the 3rd, including a monster throw down in transition to see them go up by as many as 15 in the quarter.
Bishop Loughlin tried to hang around with Markquis Nowell '18 doing a solid job at attacking the defense, and with Justin Champangie '19 proving to be a tough weapon down low on the offensive glass, but with Khalid Moore '18 getting into an offensive rhythm connecting on a pair of late threes, the lead of Molloy's was too much to overcome.
A great season from start to finish culminated on Friday with exactly what everyone associated with Archbishop Molloy wanted as when the clock hit all zeroes, it was the Stanners who were able to celebrate after a year of waiting, knocking off Bishop Loughlin to bring the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Championship back to Briarwood, 80-67.
Anthony paced the Stanners with his aforementioned game high 32 points, with Brown adding 16 points, and Moore chipping in with 15 in the victory.
If anything, this was a victory that showed just how bad Molloy wanted it. They came out with a game plan according to Anthony and stuck to it throughout, which paid off in the end for the Stanners.
"Everyone was locked in. Everyone wanted this as bad as I did, as bad as coach did, and everyone came out with the mindset of we are going to win this game," Anthony stated.
It was as complete a performance as you the Stanners could've hoped for as they led for most of the game, never allowing the Bishop Loughlin guards to get going, in part because of a strong halfcourt trap that never allowed them to get a ton of confidence in what they were hoping to do.
Still though, Williams was able to score 18 points to led the Lions in defeat, while Nowell and Champangie had 17 points and 15 points respectively in the loss that doesn't end the Lions season as if anything it could motivate them even more to make sure they come away with the ultimate prize, the CHSAA Class "AA" City Championship.
That's what everyone does hope for, and while this was a coveted title by Archbishop Molloy, they all admitted that there is more to be done in the days ahead. The Stanners will all enjoy this for the next couple days, but once they get back to business in practice on Monday, it's all about being the last team standing and winning that Intersectional Title.
The Brooklyn/Queens Championship is nice, but it's not the end goal for Archbishop Molloy. The City Championship is now what is most important to them because as Moore says, there is a lot more this team wants to do this season.
"Today was good, it sends a statement that we are the best team in the league, but we have a lot more we want to accomplish."
