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St. Raymond Buries Hayes

Big second half showing leads Ravens to blowout win over Cardinals  

BRONX, NY- Since their season ended in disappointment a year ago the date March 15th 2020 has been on the mind of St. Raymond junior guard Malachi Smith '21. That's the date of the CHSAA Intersectional Championship Game, and each day before practice he reminds his teammates that this time around, they intend to be playing for a title on that Sunday.

The Ravens got off to a good start in their quest to put themselves in position to make that happen after opening the season on Tuesday with a win over Holy Cross, though Friday's home matchup against Cardinal Hayes at least on paper looked like it would be much more difficult.

For a half of play it was a hotly contested close contest, but once Smith got in his groove there was no stopping St. Ray's as led by Smith's 21 points, the 20 points of Gary Grant '20, and the 15 from Luis Kortright '20 it was all Ravens in the second half as they stifled and stymied the Cardinal Hayes offense to roll to an 84-64 victory.

First things first is setting an early tone. St. Raymond head coach Jorge Lopez is liking the fact that his team has rallied around the March 15th date, but at the same time he wants to make sure they prove themselves worthy of being a contender to get there on the court, with Friday being another opportunity for them to showcase what they could do against a Cardinals team that has long been one of the CHSAA's best.

"Cardinal Hayes is our biggest rival and out boys were pretty pumped coming into today's game," Lopez stated. "I think the key for us though was maintaining our composure and understanding we have to get this win and just try and go 2-0 in the league."

It's far too early Lopez said for anyone on the Ravens to assume that they have arrived with the head man believing there is still a lot of work to do to prove that they are deserving of the attention they may be on the verge of receiving.

As the game was about to begin in a packed Ravens Nest it was easy to see that Hayes was without their head coach in Joe Lods who is serving the first of a four-league game suspension for the use of ineligible players at the CHSAA Team Camp in June. That meant Tim Philp would be the man in charge for the Cardinals as this one got underway.

From the outset it was easy to see the marquee matchup on the floor as Smith was asked to stick on Hayes star guard Julien Soumaoro '20. It was his task to limit anything Soumaoro could do and prove himself not just as an elite weapon offensively, but as a lockdown defender as well.

That's exactly what Smith did as he limited Soumaoro to just 5 points in the opening half, with none coming in the second quarter as Smith said it was his desire to make a statement to those watching that he is the top guard in New York City without debate.

"The focus on the game and the key to victory for us was to lock him up and I just took that very personal," Smith explained. "Me and him are the top two guards in the city and I wanted to make sure I was able to do my job on him."

He more than did that as he stifled Soumaoro, though it was Toby Awaka '22 who in his varsity debut was a dominating force inside for the Cardinals as he had 13 in the opening half.

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Luis Kortright & Malaichi Smith
Luis Kortright & Malaichi Smith (M. Libert)

It was a tight game with the lead trading back and forth a number of times in the opening half, that was until a late Ravens spurt as Grant had a putback dunk, then Dallis Dillard '21 hit a three from the corner after a steal, and in the final seconds a steal in the backcourt led to a Kortright finish to put St. Raymond up at the half, 38-30.

Going into the locker room the momentum was all on the side of the Ravens as they were applying a good amount of pressure in the backcourt which had created a number of quick buckets off of steals and turnovers, and with the Cardinals in a load of foul trouble with Shemani Fuller '20 and Jaylen McCoy '21 each picking up 3 in the early on it meant they would have to be more careful with what they were doing defensively as well.

Even with the Hayes starting five back on the floor for the start of the third it proved to be the time where the Ravens pulled away for good. A Grant finish in the lane opening up the half, and that was soon followed by a Kortright three, which was then after that finished off by a Smith pull-up jumper. The Ravens Nest was loud and a younger Cardinals team found themselves on the wrong end of a 18-3 run to begin the quarter.

Awaka putback a Fuller miss to get Hayes on the board as they tried to stay somewhat close but the shots just wouldn't stop falling as Smith was a wizard with the ball in his hands creating for himself and his teammates with the lead growing in the third to as many as 23. The St. Raymond's student section would start a "You Need JuJu" chant in reference to Jaylen Murray who transferred out of Cardinal Hayes to head off to Prep School as the Ravens pulled away to take a 70-49 lead for the Ravens going into the fourth.

With everything going their way it may have been a case of overconfidence at the beginning of the final stanza for St. Ray's as Soumaoro finally got going a bit as the Ravens had 4 straight turnovers which led to an 8-0 Cardinals run. Lopez called timeout with 7:12 to play and explained to his Ravens group that while they may still have been in front 70-57, the game was far from over.

"We committed four turnovers and they were able to capitalize," Lopez explained. "It got a little scary there for a minute and I called timeout to tell them that the game wasn't over and they had to finish this out strong here."

That talk from Lopez seemed to do the trick as Grant had back to back buckets in the paint with a Smith drive around a pair of defending with 4:26 moving the lead back to over 20 again for the Ravens, putting this one to bed for good.

Lopez subbed out all his starters with just over 2 minutes to play with the game well in hand as he got the statement type win he was looking for as St. Ray's did move to 2-0 the way Lopez wanted, putting together a fantastic second half to roll past their rivals from Cardinal Hayes, 84-64.

The trio of Smith, Grant, and Kortright combined to score 56 points which was a number that Lopez said was impressive, though it was another stat from the game that he brought up that the head coach said in his eyes was far more impressive to what they as a unit are trying to accomplish this season.

"We had 25 assists," Lopez said. "If they share the ball the way they have been that's what is going to make us a really tough team to beat."

In the defeat it was the youth of Cardinal Hayes that shined as Awaka had a team high 19 points to lead the way for the Cardinals with Soumaoro adding 11 in a game that Hayes as a team and unit will look to learn and grow from to get to where they want to be come playoff time.

It's the Ravens who are the team of the moment though as they looked every bit the part of a team that can compete for the CHSAA Intersectional Championship, with Smith saying that this was just the start of what he believes are bigger and better things to come.

"We wanted to set the tone here, this was us setting the tone," Smith confidently said. "For us it's about getting to March 15th and getting that ring. That's what we want."

There are certainly things to improve on, and work to be done, but if Friday's performance is any indicator it wouldn't be a shock to see the Ravens in position to make that championship hope and dream a reality.


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