St. Francis Prep Zoned Out By Iona Prep

FRESH MEADOWS, NY - With wing Matt Ryan '15 and guard Ty Jerome '15 back this year for Iona Prep, there is already talk that this could be a special season for the Gaels.

The word championship has been floating around, but head coach Vic Quirolo doesn't want to hear any of that, as all he focuses on is the next practice and the next game. He does all he can he says to keep his kids focused on the mindset of one game at a time.

Tuesday in Queens, NY it was the first chance for Quirolo to truly see what his guys could do on the court when they traveled to take on St. Francis Prep in their season opener, and if anything, he should expect to hear more of that title talk as that easily dispatched of the Terriers, 73-52.

Early on it was clear to see how this game was going to turn out as St. Francis Prep opened the game in a 2-3 zone, a staple of veteran Terriers head man Tim Leary, but against a team like Iona Prep, whose guards are so lethal from behind the arc, that was a risky proposition, and after the Gaels hit 5 threes in the opening 6 minutes of the game, it proved to be very costly. Ryan, who hit 3 of those first quarter threes, says his eyes open real wide when he sees opponents in a zone.

"It's a great feeling when I see teams go into a zone because they can't glue on me and we have so many shooters who can hurt you," Ryan said. "The only negative I guess is that when a team does go zone against us, they don't stay in it for long."

That wasn't the case on Tuesday though as St. Francis Prep remained in the zone and Iona just kept burning them with the long ball. 8 first half threes, with Ryan hitting 5 and Jerome connecting on 3, gave the Gaels a 33-18 lead at the half, and Jerome said that because they were able to penetrate the zone, it really made them even more effective shooting the ball.

"We were able to get good penetration and when we do that we can kick it out for open shots, and we aren't passing those up," Jerome explained

The second half is when you expect to see teams make adjustments, but the SFP zone remained, and the first shot of the 3rd quarter was another Ryan three as he ripped a trey from the right wing. Soon after that Jerome knocked down another three, and the Iona Prep lead was up to 41-21 with 5:32 to go in the 3rd.

Tom Capuano '15, who according to Quirolo is as important as both Ryan and Jerome for Iona Prep, joined into the fray and buried a long three just before the shot clock expired late in the quarter, and through the 3rd, Iona had hit on 11 threes.

St. Francis Prep did come on strong in the closing minute of the quarter, but they were only able to cut the deficit from a game high 24, down to 18 with just eight minutes to play.

For most of the 4th quarter Jerome was on the bench saddled with 4 fouls, and with him out, guard Shane Herrity '15 was able to get into the lane more and beat his defender getting to the rim where he was able to finish against the undersized Iona Prep frontline. He was a definite bright spot for the Terriers in an otherwise rough night.

The Gaels took only one three in the 4th quarter, and it was another connect with Ryan knocking down his 7th with just over 4 minutes to play. Ryan then took a seat on the bench with four minutes to play but Iona Prep certainly weren't done as Capuano continued to play solidly, and forward Patrick Fleming '16 also showed the ability to finish around the rim with a variety of moves as Iona showed they are more than just the stars.

It was a top notch performance for one of the CHSAA's best this season as Iona Prep finished out the game strong to take down St. Francis Prep, 73-52.

As a team Iona Prep shot 12 of 22 from three point range, with Ryan going 7 of 13 and finishing with a game high 24 points in his first game in a Gaels uniform since early January when he had hip surgery which forced him to miss the rest of the season. Classifying himself at 95% right now, Ryan said that is was great to be back out on the court with his teammates, and that even though he connected on 7 treys, it's the 5 misses from long range that he will more than likely be thinking about in the days ahead.

"No matter how many I make, it's the ones I miss that I always think about and go back and look at," Ryan said.

Jerome and Capuano each had 17 points to go along with Ryan's great effort, while Fleming added 12 in a solid effort.

In the defeat, St. Francis Prep were led by Herrity and his 22 points as he did all he could to keep his team in the game as they are still looking to find some extra scoring to help him out this season as they will be without Jordan Santiago '15 this year. The two sport star who averaged nearly 12 points per game last season has decided to focus on baseball and not suit up in the hardwood, which is a big loss for the Terriers who were relying on his perimeter play to be a big part of their success.

It was Iona Prep's night though, and they proved without a shadow of a doubt, that if you let them shoot, they can bury you, as they really took it to St. Francis Prep from start to finish. Quirolo still says that his team needs to work on improving its rebounding, and getting better defensively to compete against the very best the league has to offer, but he added that this was a good start in getting a win over an SFP team that the Gaels lost to last season.

Now Quirolo says he will keep doing all he can to temper his kids expectations and goals, but with performances like this, that might be tough. Jerome says a State Championship is his goal, and that anything less would be a disappointment, while Ryan just wants to go out big.

"Winning the CHSAA is the goal first and foremost. We have work to do to get there, but I really want to go out with a ring."