Stepinac Tops Christ the King to Win CHSAA City Championship

BRONX, NY- It's was a packed Rose Hill Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon for the hotly anticipated CHSAA Intersectional Championship as Christ the King took on Stepinac for the coveted title.

Each team won their respective Diocese Tournaments meaning it was truly the best taking on the best on Sunday, and while Christ the King led for nearly the entire first half, it was Stepinac who took control early in the third quarter to help the Crusaders win their first CHSAA title in the highest level since 1960 in defeating the Royals, 74-65.

It’s been over 50 years since Stepinac had achieved the ultimate success amongst the best in the CHSAA, and while Crusaders Head coach Pat Massaroni said that many in the Stepinac community seemed to be happy to just be in this spot in Sunday’s title game, he wanted more, not content with just a championship game appearance.

“A lot of people I talked to before the game said oh wow you are in this game but that didn’t matter to us because we were ready to get over the hump,” Massaroni explained.

He was confident in his team believing that they had overcome all the odds thrown at them all season long, ready to take on the challenge of becoming just the second non-New York City team to ever win the CHSAA Intersectional Championship.

Getting out to a solid start for the Crusaders early on were brothers Alan Griffin '18 and A.J. Griffin '21 who filled up the scoreboard in the opening minutes. The Royals though were able to use their size to their advantage with both Kofi Cockburn '19 and Moussa Cisse '21 at 6'10" and over able to control the glass and build the Christ the King lead.

It may have been rough for Stepinac to see Christ the King doing what they were doing inside but according to Massaroni that was the game plan and he wasn't going to deviate from it.

"We were playing man to man to early on because I wanted to take away the guards," Massaroni stated. "I didn't want them to get off, so we said we were going to let the bigs score the ball. They definitely did so everyone I think thought we were doing the wrong thing but that was apart the plan."

The Royals would take a 9 point lead late in the 2nd quarter on the backs of their frontcourt, but with both Cisse and Tyson Walker '18 both saddled with two fouls they went to the bench late and Stepinac was able to capitalize as Xavier Wilson '18 was getting more room to finish inside, and when R.J. Davis '20 drained a three ball from the right wing just before the halftime buzzer the Christ the King lead was whittled down to just 30-28 at the break.

It was a three that sent the Crusaders into the locker room with a lot more confidence as Alan Griffin said he could feel the emotional lift the team got once that shot by Davis found the bottom of the net.

"That shot was huge and we could feel the momentum come to us, and coach said at the half too that we are a second half team and we like to bounce back strong, so we knew we could do that."

Davis seems to be the man to go to for Stepinac before halftime as this is now the 3rd time in 6 playoffs games this season that he has hit a shot to send the Crusaders into halftime with a big shot. Going into the breakdown 2 compared to down 5 was enormous and Massaroni said that he knew his team was ready for a breakout third quarter.

Panic never seemed to strike Stepinac as being down at halftime was nothing new to this group having gone been trailing at this point seemingly time and time again this season, and that could be a part of the reason why it was such a great second half start for the Crusaders.

Right out of the gate in the 3rd the Crusaders looked like a different offensive team as they switched up defenses to show Christ the King a different look which helped them tie the game up at 33 with 6:35 left in the quarter, and when Wilson putback a miss on the weak side Stepinac took a lead that little did they know then they would never relinquish.

A.J. was able to hit on a midrange jumper off the glass to keep things rolling for Stepinac, and when Alan threw home a thunderous slam in transition off a Royals turnover it was 41-34 in favor of the Crusaders.

As dangerous as Christ the King had been in prior games from behind the arc, the strong 2-3 zone that Stepinac went to in the second half seemed to give them trouble as the lateral movement by the Crusaders was solid in not giving off any clean looks to their usual sharpshooter in Ryan Myers '20.

The lead for Stepinac grew to 52-40 going to the 4th, but Massaroni said he and his team were prepared for a Christ the King run knowing it was soon going to come. When the Royals got on the break they began to find more success getting the deficit down to 7 on a pair of occasions, but each time it was the younger Griffin in A.J. who canned a three to build the lead back up.

For someone as young as Griffin in that spot to come up with maybe the two more important shots of the game was massive. Massaroni said he had all the confidence in the world in A.J. knocking down the big shots when needed, with A.J. himself saying he just wanted to step up when his number was called on.

"My confidence comes from my teammates and at the end of the day they trust me to make those shots when we need them and I'm grateful I could come through," Griffin said about his important 4th quarter shots.

His three balls kept Stepinac up double digits, and when clutch FT's were needed to put the game away it was Davis who was asked to come through big again as he went 5-6 down the stretch from the charity stripe to put the game away for good. It didn't look good early for Stepinac but sticking to the game plan and relying on what got them here paid off as it was a true team effort all around that helped them win the CHSAA Intersectional Championship for the first time in 58 years by knocking off Christ the King, 74-65.

With Alan Griffin scoring a game high 20 points, his younger brother A.J. Griffin scoring 19, and Wilson and Davis chipping in with 13 and 12 points respectively it was a performance where everyone got in the act for Stepinac to achieve the dream not many felt possible at the beginning of the season in bringing home the CHSAA title to White Plains.

In defeat Cockburn would have a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds while Cisse had a triple-double, the first one in recent title game memory, as he had 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 blocks showing there is an extremely bright future for the Royals for years to come.

Sunday was Stepinac's day though as they finally were able to break through and win the title that they have long coveted. They proved in their coach's eyes that they have the best backcourt in New York State with the victory, and along with their play it's a special moment for everyone in the Stepinac community, a day and memory that Massaroni says will stay with them all forever.

A special moment for everyone it may even that much more special for Alan Griffin as he will go out as a senior on top, and getting to share this with all his teammates, including his younger brother will make this a once in a lifetime moment that he says he will hold close to him forever.

"It's once in a lifetime for me to play with my brother and to be able to call ourselves city champs, it's really so special," Griffin said as he clutched the title trophy with his family by his side.

At the top of the mountain Stepinac have felt all year that they were among the best of the best in New York and now they can official says they are champions.