Xaverian Stuns Molloy In CHSAA Semis

JAMAICA, NY - Having lost to Archbishop Molloy all three times they had faced them so far this season the odds were against Xaverian of pulling a repeat and getting back to the CHSAA Intersectional City Championship Game this season.

They needed to reverse the trend against Molloy having struggled against them all season to date, and in their big semifinal game on Wednesday at St. John's University in Queens they did just that as it was the Clippers who came from behind in the 4th quarter behind the play of guard Nyonty Wisseh '16 to ultimately stun the Stanners in dramatic fashion, 57-55.

Going into the game, some teams who have lost to a team 3 times in a season would lose faith, especially against a team as strong all over the court as Molloy is, but guard Brandon Leftwich '16 said the team came in with faith.

"We told ourselves it's really hard to beat a team 4 times in a year," Leftwich stated. "And coach just said that we need to keep going after it."

They needed to play Xaverian basketball head coach Jack Alesi said. He admitted that his group was tough and would never quit, and while they had yet to beat the Stanners during the season he believed that it was possible if they played the game he wanted them to.

Xaverian was able to get off to a good start and get out to a quick 7-2 lead off a three ball by Khalil Rhodes '16 and a drive down the left side by Zack Bruno '17. The Clippers were playing crisper and we're moving the ball around better, and with Molloy struggling to get the ball inside Xaverian tried to pull away, but 5 straight from big man Isaac Grant '16, including a straightaway three showing his range late in the first gave the Stanners there first lead of the game at 12-10 after one.

The second quarter though saw Molloy really start to take control as Grant and fellow big man Moses Brown '18 were getting the ball fed to them time after time by the guards, and more times than not they were finishing as the duo combined for 20 of the Stanners 29 first half points, but Xaverian to their credit didn't wilt.

They had fallen behind, and were down by 6 at 29-23 in the waning seconds of the opening half when Jordan Guzman '16 was able to connect on a jumper just as the halftime buzzer sounded to cut the deficit for Xaverian to 29-25 at the half.

It may not have seemed it at the time but that final jump shot before the half was huge according to Alesi. It didn't necessarily give his team the lead, but it gave them confidence heading into the second half.

"You could feel the life after that shot heading to the locker room," Alesi stated. "We do situations like that in practice with around 4 seconds left and you can get to the other foul line in 4 seconds so I reminded Jordan that and he got there and hit the shot which was big."

Still though, Molloy was up by 4 at the break and had gotten very little from star freshman guard Cole Anthony '19 who was held scoreless in the opening 16 minutes, and his production was going to need to go up if the Stanners were going to hold on because the Clippers definitely seemed as if they were not going to go away.

While Anthony was struggling for Molloy, Wisseh was also struggling for Xaverian. He was also held scoreless in the opening half, but he was able to turn things up in a major way and help keep the Clippers close.

Wisseh was able to score his first bucket of the game with 3:38 to go in the 3rd, and even though Molloy was able to maintain a 3 point lead at 40-37 after three, the Clippers star was just about ready to emerge as he called it, coming up big in the clutch.

"I just kept staying calm," Wisseh said. "We were in a close game and I felt as if I would start to knock down shots as the game went in."

That he would do as he had 7 of Xaverian's first 9 points of the 4th quarter to draw them within a point at 47-46 with 5:12 to play, and while Anthony was starting to do more offensively, the Molloy interior threats were struggling to finish inside and on the glass.

For that you have to give a lot of credit to players like Leftwich, who at 6'1" was guarding a far bigger Brown, and doing a fantastic job against him, but going up against bigger players in this one wasn't fazing Leftwich because he knew that he wanted it more.

"I am 6'1" and I am guarding someone who is 7'0", but I honestly didn't care," Leftwich said. "The bigger they are, the bigger they fall."

He was confident that his aggressive defense would pay off and it did as he and players like Guzman and Bruno were doing a fantastic job on the glass as the Stanners seemed to be wearing down.

Even tiring though, Molloy was holding on to their lead, never trailing in the 2nd half, that is until the final seconds of the game.

Alesi admitted that in the closing minutes of a game like this that teams tend to tentative so he applied a full court trapping press that did start to affect the Stanners as with 13 seconds to play Xaverian was able to get the game even at 55 after Wisseh read a cross court pass by Dominick Priolo '16, stealing the pass and getting fouled while driving to the basket. He made the 2 FT's and the game was on.

Molloy would again inbound the ball and Anthony would get trapped in the corner and instead of the Stanners calling a timeout, the ball was again stolen by Wisseh.

While it was a key play in the game, Stanners head coach Mike McCleary admitted after the game that he was trying to get the referees attention to call a timeout, but that one was never granted to him.

Wisseh though read another pass, something he says he does all the time so he doesn't make a big deal about it, and got fouled once again. He would go on to connect on both FT's to give Xaverian a 57-55 lead with 8.6 seconds to play.

The Stanners had one more chance, and while the Clippers again pressured the ball, Khalid Moore '18 broke the trap, but instead of taking it to the basket he kicked it to the corner to Brown who with 2 seconds left hoisted up a three that hit the side of the backboard as time expired as Xaverian had come all the way back to shock Archbishop Molloy, 57-55.

Much like Molloy's prior possession, this one was also questioned as to was a timeout called, but McCleary said no he didn't attempt to call one there and that it was just a cross up on what to do in that situation.

"I wanted Moses to get under the rim and we wanted Khalid attacking the basket but neither happened," McCleary admitted in defeat. "It was just youth and that sometimes is going to happen."

It was an unfortunate ending for the Stanners, but the Clippers were in celebration mode as for the first time this season they downed Archbishop Molloy, and the win sends them back to Fordham University for the CHSAA Class "AA" Intersectional Championship, a place Wisseh admitted they have wanted to get back to since last season's heartbreaking defeat in the final to Christ the King.

"I was just excited that we won and that we were going back to Fordham," Wisseh said. "This time though I don't want to lose."

The big effort from Wisseh, the senior wing, who led the team with 16 points is what helped push the Clippers into this position. All 16 came in the second half, and each came in huge moments. Bruno also came up with a strong game finishing with 13 points, while Leftwich was huge on both sides of the floor as well and added 12 points.

For Molloy they were paced by Grant and his 17 points in his final high school game, with Moore adding 14 points as well in the defeat that will definitely sting the Stanners for a while as they led for 15 minutes and 52 seconds of the second half, but came up short as the 8 seconds they trailed just happened to be the last 8 seconds of the game.

It's back to back trips to the CHSAA Intersectional Championship Game for Alesi and his Xaverian Clippers, and even the coach admitted that while last year's team was expected to get there, this year he never even thought about getting to the title game until after the game and in the locker room with his team.

He said he is extremely proud of what they were able to accomplish so far this season, though they are not done yet, and with the win his Sunday is now busy with what he hopes will be a championship raising day for his Clippers, and no other plans he may have previous made.

"It's Sunday still right? No golfing I guess," Alesi said as he ended with a smile as hopes to lead his team to a title.