BRONX, NY - Less than a month after putting forth a dramatic upset bid that pushed Stepinac to the wire in a pulsating 73-72 loss in White Plains. Cardinal Hayes' youth showed during a 77-62 loss to the top-ranked Crusaders during the Archdiocesan semifinals at Mount St. Michael High School in the Bronx.
Stepinac, which will play St. Raymond's in the Archdiocese title on Saturday, thrived with the oceanic depth and weathered experience that enabled them to register an astounding 14-1 conference record. The Crusaders reeled off a 16-4 run to close out the second half, turning a 22-19 first-half deficit into a 44-33 lead after UMass-bound senior point guard 6'0" PG(Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY '25) turned a steal into an open court layup and 6'9" SF Adonis Ratliff (Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY '26) stuck a five-foot jumper.
Pat Massaroni's team came out of the second-half gates smoking. Ratliff exploded for a loud dunk to kick it off. Then he utilized his towering 6-foot-11 frame on a back-to-the-rim move. 6'3' SG Hassan Koureissi (Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY '26) fired in a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, as Stepinac opened up a 53-35 lead. An NBA range 3-pointer from 6'4" SG Jasiah Jervis (Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY '26) swelled the spread to 67-44 and a shot in traffic from 6'4" SGJalen Mehu (Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY '26)ballooned it out to an insurmountable 25-point bulge.
Hayes showed promise early, with a 3-pointer from 6’3” G David Gaymon (Cardinal Hayes HS, NY 26) followed by back-to-back buckets by freshman 5’10” G Bryce Yancey (Cardinal Hayes HS, NY ‘28). The latter on a slick left-handed shovel layup through traffic, gave Hayes a 20-15 lead. This time around, however, Stepinac controlled possession and ramped up its defensive tenacity, pressurizing Hayes into a sustained power outage they could never recover from.
Jervis, who has been hearing from Wake Forest, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, St. Bonaventure, Rutgers, Northwestern, and more recently Miami and Duke, scored a game-best 19 points. Carbuccia, who scored 10 points in the final 9 minutes of the first half, finished with 12 points, 12 assists, and four steals. Ratliff, who stuck two moon beam-esque NBA range 3-pointers in the final minute and 25 seconds of the aforementioned regular season matchup between the two familiar foes, scored 13 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. He added a game-best five blocks and four assists.
Junior forward 6’7” F Dylan Perry (Archbishop Stepinac HS, NY ‘26), a budding mid-major+ prospect who scored six of Stepinac's first nine points, finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Boasting a workmanlike game and battling for 50-50 balls ferociously. Mehu continues to be a productive, high-energy source off the bench. He's darted his way to meaningful minutes, providing a presence on the boards while Darius Ratliff is still on the fence with a foot injury.
While Stepinac's primary goal is to win an unprecedented third straight city title and put their own unique stamp on the CHSAA history books, they will have a fight on its hands against St. Ray's in the title. St. Raymond's defeated the Crusaders in an upset victory in last year's title game, riding the hot hand of Tai Turnage and 2027 Anderson Diaz (who has since transferred to Lawrence Woodmere Academy).
Again, St. Ray's is led by a sublime tandem in four-year starters Turnage and Georgia Tech-commit Brandon Stores Jr. The Ravens annihilated Iona Prep during a thorough 73-38 pummeling on Tuesday. Now, with Stepinac eager to exact vengeance in the tune-up prior to the heavily anticipated CHSAA "AA" city championships, the stage is set for a thriller on Saturday at 1 PM at Mount St. Michael.
