St. Ray’s Outlasts Chaminade
The CHSAA Long Island Champs Chaminade HS hosted St. Raymonds HS (NY), which is one of the top programs in NYC. The game was an incredible back-and-forth that featured a lot of offense.
St. Ray’s got the first bucket, Chaminade hit the first three, St. Ray’s scored but gave up another triple. St Raymonds 6’4” SG Elijah Cherry (St. Raymonds HS, NY ‘24) knock down a three, Chaminade scored, Ravens finished a layup but the Flyers connected on another three. Ray’s scored inside, Chaminade hit two free throws, 6’5” SF Brandon Stores Jr. (St. Raymonds HS, NY ‘25) finished a layup but the Flyers answered with a bucket of their own. Stores scored, Flyers hit a layup, Stores got free for an easy bucket but Chaminade once again answered with a deep three. Raven scored with little time on the clock to take a slight 20-19 lead after first quarter.
The energy from the crowd was up as the Flyers started the second with a three. Then went 1/2 from the line plus got a steal for two. Stores grabbed an offensive rebound, threw it back in for two. The Raven got a steal for a bucket but 6'0” PG Kyle Dillon (Chaminade HS, NY ‘26) blew by his man for basket. Chaminade 6’2” G Ricky Gunther (Chaminade HS, NY ‘25) hit a free throw. Rays scored, Dillon hit a shot and Stores scored inside once again. Dillon went 1/2 from the line, Ravens hit a pair, Dillon got by the defense for an easy two. Rays missed and Chaminade scored after a great pass.
Ray’s got a hoop, Flyers hit two free throws, Stores buried a deep three but Chaminade connected on one as well. Then very late with seconds remaining St. Ray’s hit a shot at the buzzer that many argued was late but they counted the bucket cutting Chaminade lead to just four heading into the break. The Ravens opened up the quarter with back to back buckets. Chami scored, Stores finished inside for two then Rays converted two free throws. Gunther beat his man to bucket for two, Stores scored, Chaminade answered but the Ravens converted a massive and1. Gunther scored, Rays answered, Flyers hit two free throws and so did Cherry.
Dillon got free for two. Stores knocked down a three, the Flyers missed. Rays hit two free throws but Gunther was able to score. Cherry converted two more free throws, Chaminade scored, got a stop. Dillon got a bucket, Ravens hit a free throw, then drilled a three as the buzzer sounded. The Ravens scored twice to open the fourth and took a ten point lead. Gunther scored, Cherry answered, Flyers scored but Ray’s did as well. Cherry hit a big three, and Gunther finished a layup. Cherry knocked down another triple then scored inside over multiple defenders. Gunther converted an and1. Cherry hit a shot, the Flyers scored but Ravens answered quickly.
Chaminade hit back to back threes, got another stop and Gunther finished in transition. The lead was down to seven when Cherry scored. Flyers turned it over, and the Ravens hit both free throws. But Gunther managed to finish off another crazy and1. Rays scored, Gunther answered, Dillon scored but Ravens made both their free throws as time was running out. Gunther scored quick, Rays missed, Chami scored again but Ravens sealed the deal with two free throws.
St. Ray’s won the game 95-88 but the Flyers impressed. Gunther had a monster game with 23-points while Dillon held his own with 13-points. Ravens MVP was Stores who finished with 20-points but decided to give the award unselfishly to Cherry who had 19-points and he was sensational down the stretch. We love to see things like this and it doesn’t surprise why this St. Raymond’s program is always successful.