BROOKLYN, NY – On Sunday, LIU was packed four levels high to witness the CHSAA vs PSAL Championship. In one corner, the defending champion Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders stood at the ready representing White Plains. In the other corner, there was the home team, the Thomas Jefferson Orange Wave.

From the tip-off, the Wave shot out the box like a cannon with an obvious plan to get up and down the court quick, fast and in a hurry. The Crusaders counter would be to run a measured game that was under the speed limit. While the up-tempo game is more fun to watch, Stepinac would stay the course and withstand a late game thunderstorm en route to a 69 – 67 victory.

Danny Carbuccia held it down in the opening quarter, netting ten of his 15 points, giving the Crusaders a 5-point lead going into the second quarter. Although Jefferson had a balanced attack offensively, Stepinac’s length bothered them with players like Adonis Ratliff and Hassan Koureissi clogging the paint and blocking shots. At the half, the Orange Wave trailed, 30 – 24.

Being dragged into Stepinac’s mid-tempo clearly bothered the Orange Wave but Jefferson began to show signs of life with scoring from Connor Sprattley and Jahda Swann ’26. Stepinac seem unrattled. As the final quarter began, the Wave was in a ten-point hole. Down 19 points with 5:15 left in regulation, all indicators pointed towards a beatdown with the Orange Wave cruisin’ to a brusin’.

Fans had already begun exiting the building in anticipation of a substantial loss, but Jefferson proved that it ain’t over until it's over. The Crusaders let down its guard and tried to coast to victory and Jefferson took full advantage. Sprattley, with help from Malachi Wilson ‘25, mounted a two-man Brooklyn-style offensive mugging. Costly turnovers and missed free-throws by Stepinac eventually translated into a 21 – 5 Jefferson run late in the quarter. Suddenly, Thomas Jefferson was only down 3 points with 31.8 seconds remaining.

The problem with comebacks is they oftentimes consume too much energy to get over the hump. Such was the case in the end as Koureissi, from the charity stripe, finished off the Orange Wave who had simply run out of gas

Stepinac never trailed. Koureissi earned MVP honors with 15 points, 7 rebounds and two assists while Carbuccia finished with 15 points, 7 assists and 3 steals. Sprattley paced Jefferson with 17 points with Wilson adding 16 points.

The Crusaders won this event back-to-back, defeating Eagle Academy II last season.