Clippers and Knights Advance to Freshman Finals

            Holy Cross and Xaverian, who arguably have been the best freshman teams in the CHSAA this season posted wins to advance to Saturday's final at Holy Cross. The game will feature some of New York City's top talent in the class of 2015 and will provide a great glimpse into what is a bright future for basketball in the metropolitan area. Here are brief recaps of the games that set the stage for Saturday.

            Xaverian 73 St. Ray's 58  Talented lefty big man Latiq Lainey helped the Clippers get out of the gate quickly scoring 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Throughout the game he demonstrated all the abilities that will make him a target for major colleges once he's a senior. He involved his teammates with his passing, rebounded well and did a much better job than earlier in the year staying out of foul trouble. For the Clippers Lainey's efforts were augmented by a pair of talented lefty guards Dorian Issac, who finished with 19 points and Zack Bozar who hit double figures and played his best floor game of the season. Forward Luke Schriber may have been the team's best player. He finished with 16 points and showed terrific outside shooting ability and a great knack for being in position for rebounds.

            The Ravens stayed within striking distance behind the play of point guard Jaquan McKennon, who bounced back from a first half struggle to finish with 19 points and a pair of smooth shooting wings Efram DeJesus and Sonny Lorenzo who finished with 14 and 10 points respectively.

            Holy 57 Stepinac 53 The Knights rallied late with some terrific execution down the stretch. Consecutive "high-low" plays that resulted in baskets for talented big man Jeremy Bonafaccio and a long trey from Jeremy Bishop helped the Knights hold off a stubborn Crusader squad. Guard Cheyenne Nettleton led the Knights with 15 points while Bishop added 14. Guard Brandon Steed added 10 points but was a catalyst with his quickness in transition and on defense

Despite Heavy Hearts Knights Win Diocesan Crown

At the end of the day as Holy Cross celebrated their 60--57 win over Bishop Loughlin it was left to Marquise Moore, who's been their best player, to sum up the situation succinctly when he said, "He stayed strong for us, he stayed strong for the team".

            Staying strong could not have been easy for Knights' coach Paul Gilvary, whose mother passed away on Wednesday after a brief illness.  With this in mind before I begin the game story I'd like to first extend condolences to both coach Gilvary and his brother Tim who serves as assistant athletic director at Holy Cross and plays a vital role in the operation of the CHSAA "AA" division as well. Their selfless work at Holy Cross and within the league has been vital to the education of children throughout the city. Thoughts and prayers go out to them as they mourn their loss.

            Even in a championship game the young Lions came out with the same aggressiveness they showed while upsetting top seeded Christ the King on Wednesday.  Behind Elisha Boone (18 points) Khadeen Carrington (16 points) and Mike Williams (13 points) the Lions sprinted to a 22-10 lead with just over four minutes left in the first half. But thanks to the Knights' ability to get Moore the ball in different scoring spots, and some key minutes off the bench from soph Josh Wallace the Knights trailed by just 28-24 at the half.

            Moore, who finished with 25 points played as he has all year, scoring on drives and jumpers from the elbow and baseline. As the Lions kept fighting, Moore kept providing scoring answers and by the time the final period began the Knights led 41-39

            The final quarter was a nip and tuck struggle but with the game tied at 50 Will Davis followed in a miss and Moore had two free throws to give Cross a 54-50 lead. But a great effort by Loughlin on the boards and four missed free throws by the Knights opened the door for the Lions. Carrington was fouled on a drive and made the first free throw to make the score 58-57. Coach Gilvary called timeout and Carrington missed the next one and on the scramble that ensued the arrow pointed the Knights way on a tie up. Moore was fouled and made both free ones for what would be the final margin. On their last possession with 2.6 seconds left the Lions threw the ball into Carrington, who let a shot go from beyond half court that hit the rim and drew a gasp from the audience.

            Both teams are to be congratulated for a great final game and a great Diocesan Tournament. Both have well-earned byes into the intersectional quarter finals, and both will be tough outs in that tournament next week.

           

Cross Shows Veteran Poise While Young Lions Score Upset to Reach Diocesan Finals

Second seeded Holy Cross used a terrific fourth quarter and near perfect free throw shooting to earn a 62-55 win over Xaverian while Bishop Loughlin's young lions used their slashing and shooting ability to streak past defending champion and top seeded Christ the King 74-67 at St. Francis Prep last night. The two teams will meet tomorrow for the Diocesan title in a matchup that features a Holy Cross filled with talented seniors and a young Loughlin squad which struggled at times during the regular season but showed last night they're capable of putting a winning effort together at any time against any team. With their wins both the Knights and Lions earned byes into next week's intersectional quarter finals.  Here are recaps of last night's games:
Holy Cross 63 Xaverian 55 The Clippers started well in this one, leading 28-23 at the half. While the Knights' Will Davis did a terrific job against the Clippers shooting star Brian Bernardi, n teammates, George Lambert and soph Raven Owen combined with the Clippers' other star Dillon Burns to pick up the slack. Owen especially was exceptional in helping his team to their half time advantage; providing scoring with great drives and terrific passing. He even found Bernardi with a quick hit ahead pass. for what would be his only open look at a three pointer which he drained.
Owen experienced some hard growing pains in the second half when two quick shots by him that missed opened the door for the Knights to tie the game at 28 with a quick 5-0 burst out of the locker room.  Behind Marquise Moore, Davis and Mareiga Clarke the Knights opened up a six point advantage before the Clippers regrouped and tied the game at 41 heading into the final 8 minutes.
From there the Moore's clutch shooting and Davis' defense were the difference Moore's 22 points included a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe and a contested trey from the corner which gave the Knights a 57-50 lead with just under a minute left.  Davis' defense limited Bernardi to just 12 points and while Dylan Burns would put in 20 for the Clippers they forced him into many tough ones that led to transition opportunities for the Knights. As they have all season the Knights demonstrated the kind of poise that comes with having seniors and an ability to score at all 5 positions that should continue to serve them well in the playoffs.
Loughlin 74 Christ the King 67 Super sophomore Khadeen Carrington and his Lion teammates showed once and for all that they will respond to a challenge.  Carrington  was fouled hard with just under 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Lions trailing the Royals. Play was stopped, a flagrant foul was called, and Carrington's mom rushed to the court to check on her son. Once play resumed the Lions, led by Carrington blitzed the Royals, outscoring them 16-11 to close out the period and when Mike Williams put the Lions ahead 56-52 with one of his signature three point shots, the Lions hurt the Royals as they did in two close regular season loses, by spreading the floor and driving to the basket.  While Carrington was the main scorer, picking up 17 of his 26 points in the last two quarters, Williams Jordan Nanton Elisia Boone and the rest of the Lions each contributed key drives for either baskets or assists as they utilized their quickness advantage perfectly against the bigger Royals. And when CK finally gained their footing and lowered the margin to 7 points with 2:15 left it was time for Carrington to provide the knockout blow with a tough off balance banker from the left side.  For the Lions Williams added 12 points while Boone, Lavar Harewood and Kevin Ravenell each added 10.  For the Royals Omar Calhoun had 18 points and Jon Severe added 16 in the loss

St. John's Finds Help From Within For Second Straight Win

To be sure the hot topic amongst the hard core internet informed fan base of St. John's men basketball has been whether or not help is on the way. With their coach Steve Lavin still following a modified schedule that allows him to be at practice and on the recruiting trail much has been posted written and said wondering what kind of recruiting class the Red Storm will announce  this spring and whether or not that class will be able to augment the efforts of a talented freshman group that has played well at times but struggled  because of the lack of depth behind them. The interest in the next recruiting class, and coach Lavin's efforts has been so intense that the beat writers from the Daily News and the New York Post watched the game from Lavin's apartment.

            As their coach searches the recruiting trail to hopefully find that depth, the Red Storm may not be adding roster depth just yet but they have become deeper  in a sense because players who are starting out of necessity are beginning to get better and make more significant contributions.

            As the young Red Storm earned their second straight win with a 79-72 victory over DePaul on Tuesday. the guys who have been their most consistent performers were again rock solid.  D'angelo Harrison led the scoring with 23 points and was exceptional with poise and free throw shooting that helped ice the game for St. John's. Moe Harkless  contributed  with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It's likely that tired legs that can be expected when a freshman plays 40 minutes a night have caused his normally reliable jumper to falter. But to his credit he has continued to make his presence felt on the boards and by scoring inside. The double double was his third straight.

            The difference in these last two wins that have helped St. John's snap a four game losing streak has been the play of other freshmen who started more slowly than the two stalwarts but are now finding their stride as St. John's comes down the stretch of the season. Amir Garrett, who joined the team at the semester break appears to have shaken the rust off and is beginning to play some great basketball.  He finished one rebound short of a double-double of his own (18 points 9 caroms). And while he may be happier with the three pointer he nailed from the left corner, a surer sign that the rust is completely gone is the 9 of 11 he shot from the free throw line.  He and Harrison led a free throw shooting effort that coach Mike Dunlap described as the "story of the game" that was "kinda invisible. And it helped St. John's win despite scoring just two field goals in the final 4:46 of the game.

            Garrett also combined with the team's energy guy Sir^Dominic Pointer to lead a defensive effort that forced 18 turnovers. On paper the wins brought St. John's to just 12-16 overall and 5-10 in the Big East but with the rest of the iron five (beyond Harkless and Harrison) beginning to find its stride, good things may happen before re-enforcements arrive.

           

Bearcats Throttle Lifeless St. John's 76-54

Former White Plains High star Sean Kilpatrick scored 10 of his team high 14 points during a 12-3 run early in the second half. The spurt helped Cincinnati extend a 30-19 halftime advantage to a 44-23 advantage in the opening minutes of the second half. From there, without much resistance from an undermanned St. John's the Bearcats cruised to an easy 76-54 win at Madison Square Garden last night.

            Kilpatrick's first half effort mirrored both teams as he started shooting slowly. But after coach Mick Cronin told him he was rushing he began to take advantage of the room he found on the baseline against St. John's zone defense.

            "You tend to do that when you're excited to play here," the redshirt sophomore admitted.  "I was happy to be here especially being a New York kid," Kilpatrick added.  "When the shots were there I was taking them".

            And while Kilpatrick reminded those in the audience who follow local schoolboy hoops just how good his jumper is, his Bearcat teammates pounded St. John's in the paint; outrebounding them by a 44-27 margin. Yancy Gates tied Kilpatrick for team high scoring honors with 14 points while guard Cashmere Wright added 12 and 10 boards.

            For the Red Storm, who learned earlier in the day that reserve junior guard Malik Stith had left the team for personal reasons, D'angelo Harrison was the lone double figure scorer with 15 points. Moe Harkless, who tipped in the game winning basket in the Red Storm's January 7th win over the Bearcats had 6 points and 5 rebounds on just 8 shots.

            "Any win they get in the Big East this year is gravy," Coach Cronin said mindful of a St. John's roster on which all of the scholarship players are first year players.  "You can't play that way in the Big East it's unrealistic"

            For St. John's which fell to 10-14 overall and 4-8 in league play what Cronin described as unrealistic has become, for this season at least, their reality. The team's two best players, Harkless and Harrison both emphasized the need for the team to stick together.  While that certainly won't guarantee wins for an undermanned team in the Big East Conference, it's the only option they have

            

With Help From Youngsters Bernardi and Burns lead Xaverian to Senior Night Win

Senior Brian Bernardi poured in 25 points and his classmate Dillon Burns added 18 as Xaverian bounced back from Tuesday's tough loss at Cardinal Hayes to earn an 88-77 win over a stubborn Loughlin squad at home last night.
As has been the program's custom, the last league home game was chosen to honor the basketball team's 6 man class of 2012. Starters Bernardi. Burns and Andrew Petric as well as  reserves Stanley Peacock, Shakel Kemp and Sean Dillon were each read tributes and presented with portrait style photographs. Peacock who has contributed energy, toughness and intangibles was rewarded with a senior night start.
The entire team fed off the energy of the ceremony.  Strong shooting from Burns and Bernardi combined with tough play under the basket provided by Peacock and some good moments off the bench by Kemp helped propel the Clippers to a fast start.  And to their credit, the younger Clippers were fully engaged in the effort to make their teammates' night special. Junior Lamel Faison continued his slow and steady return to form from injury, pushing tempo and finding his teammates for baskets, while sophomore Ryan Rossiter made his presence felt around the hoop when both Kemp and Peacock both picked up early fouls.
Of all the contributions from underclassmen perhaps none was more important than that of talented sophomore guard Raven Owen, who along with Faison  provided a penetrating compliment to Burns' and Bernardi's hot shooting.  Save for a bad moment on defense where being a bit too aggressive saddled him with his 5th and final foul, he made terrific decisions setting up teammates or scoring himself on penetration, it was easily his best game as a varsity player. and hopefully for the Clippers a sign of things to come.
To their credit Loughlin did lots of good things in front of a boisterous home crowd for Xaverian.  Even as the Clippers opened substantial margins the Lions used their defensive toughness and outstanding three point shooting to seemingly never go away.  Their outstanding sophomore trio of Mike Williams Khadeem Carrington and Elisha Boone brought the Lions back from as much as 14 points down to within 4 late in the third period. But Burns, as he's done all season buried a huge three to help his team regain its footing for the final winning push on what was a great night especially for the seniors but also for the Clippers' and the Lions' futures which both look very bright.