BROOKLYN, NY- Having jumped out to a big lead on Friday only to see the lead disappear and lose, Xaverian was looking to make sure it wasn't rinse and repeat all over again for the Clippers when they hosted their archrivals from Bishop Loughlin on Sunday afternoon.

After jumping out to a 15-0 lead and going up 21-4 after one quarter of playthings were looking great for Xaverian as Billy Reyes '20 was dominating from the outside hitting on 3 treys in the opening quarter and giving the Clippers a commanding advantage, but the good vibes didn't last.

Led by Taj Chiles '20 and Maurice Doby '20 in the second quarter the Lions slowly but surely started to chip away at a once 17 point deficit. Loughlin trailed by just 3 entering the half and were right their lock and step with Xaverian the rest of the way, even taking their first lead of the game with 3:38 to play in the game.

It wasn't meant to be for the Lions though as the Clippers, unlike Friday's game against Iona Prep where they faltered and couldn't recover, recovered just in time as Nick Folk '20 would connect on a drive to the rim while getting fouled with 16.6 seconds to go. He would drain the FT to have the Clippers go up for good as Xaverian would pull out a hard fought 63-59 victory over Bishop Loughlin in another CHSAA Brooklyn classic.

With Reyes draining a corner three to end the opening quarter to go up 17 it was decision time for Xaverian head coach Clyde Chapman. Up by a considerable amount he decided to go to his bench to give the starters, who played extremely well to open things up, a bit of a breather which is when things got interesting.

Doby began to attack the basket instead of settling for contested perimeter looks, with Chiles also doing a better job at creating off the dribble. Defensively too the Loughlin press was giving the second unit of Xaverian a lot of trouble which enabled the Lions to bring the 17 point lead down to just 27-24 at the half. They were still trailing but Bishop Loughlin were right back in the game, which Chapman said was on him for allowing to happen.

"We went to the bench and there was a drop off today," Chapman explained. We can't have any drop off. The first five went out and did a very good job of executing the game play but as soon as we made a sub it seemed like they weren't inspired so that's something we need to continue to work on as a unit to make sure doesn't happen again."

Late in the opening half Chapman brought back his starters into the game and stemmed the tide but with Bishop Loughlin full of confidence it was now a game and would be a game the rest of the way.

The issue for the Lions was getting over the top as they tied the game on a couple of occasions in the third but each time there was a Clippers response with Reyes connecting on a three from the left wing followed by an Ian Byrne '20 triple from the other side.

Shawn Fulcher '21 was a primary catalyst as well for Xaverian as he was able to score 7 points in the third quarter to allow the Clippers to keep a 44-39 lead heading into the fourth, but with Loughlin tightening up defensively and coming together after a rough opening quarter they still as well held confidence that pulling off the road shocker was a realistic possibility.

Again, it was Loughlin tying the game up at 47 with 4:40 to play after a Thomas Lawson '20 baseline jumper, but Folk would connect on a runner in the lane shortly after to answer meaning the Lions still had not been able to overtake the Clippers for the lead. That finally would change when another unsung hero in Joe Cristian '22 would drain a three from the left side to give Loughlin a 52-51 lead.

At that point with 3:38 to play it felt as if the momentum had finally fully shifted toward the Lions though Chapman said he was unworried as even though they had fallen on Friday after a similar situation he felt as if his group of Clippers had already been in a number of games like this early in the season which would help them in this one on Sunday.

"The fact we have been in games like this already I feel they understood that they needed to stay the course, get a stop, and then come down and execute," Chapman stated.

Back and forth lead changes though over the next three minutes were the norm as the offensive execution was there for both teams. Chiles would drain a pair of FT's to give Loughlin a 59-57 lead with 23 seconds left meaning someone for Xaverian would need to step up and make the big play in the big moment or back to back home losses could've soon been coming their way.

Enter Folk who had struggled for the better part of three and a half quarters as he didn't look for his shot much, but after he got the ball in the corner he drove along the baseline instead of pulling up for the long jumper. Instead he took the ball inside and went right at the bigs of Loughlin putting up the layup against two bodies, connecting on the bucket while getting fouled with 16.6 seconds to play.

He hit the FT to give Loughlin the lead with Folk saying after not having one of his better games it was time for him to step up and do for his team what he knew was necessary in that moment.

"I made that play knowing it was going to go in because at the beginning of the game I wasn't taking a lot of shots so I knew that one was going to drop," Folk said. "I needed to come up for my team."

Folk did just that and on top of it with Xaverian up one the interim head coach for Bishop Loughlin in Tony Chiles was called for a technical foul for coming onto the court to argue the foul call that was made. It was a snap immediate call by the officials as soon as they saw Chiles outside of his coaching box which meant two more FT's and the ball for Xaverian in a critical moment of the game.

Staying on the FT line and hitting both of the technical foul FT's was Folk putting Xaverian up now by 3. One more FT would seal the deal in the closing seconds as well as after nearly seeing the lead fall by the wayside once again, this time it was the Clippers showing a lot of character and will to pull it out as led by the 23 points of Reyes, Xaverian was able to leave Sunday's matinee with a 63-59 victory over the Lions.

Along with the 23 points from Reyes the Clippers got 12 points from Fulcher, and while Folk was limited to just 10 points, 8 of those came in the fourth when with the game on the line the junior calmly came up big to put Xaverian over the top.

For Loughlin in the loss it was Doby who had a team high 20 points, with Chiles adding 18 as well.

Showing the fight and the grit that Chapman wanted from his team, this is the perfect way for the Clippers to head out as they now will take a trip out to Colorado for a tournament out in Windsor, CO this coming Wednesday with Folk hoping that they showed the rest of the CHSAA that Xaverian is also a team to watch as we moving along throughout the rest of the season.

"The league is wide open and it's really anyone's to take," Folk admitted. "We just got to get back in the lab and work harder to prove that we are among the best too."