Following
a regular season full of surprises, CHSAA's "AA" intersectional
playoff bracket held form, with Molloy the top playoff seed from
Brooklyn-Queens scoring an impressive win and then surviving a great effort
from Stepinac to reach the final.
Cardinal Hayes, on the other hand,
was an outlier in these playoffs, not only because they reached them as the New
York Archdiocese # 5 seed but because in a year where several teams featured
prominent big men, Hayes did not have a player who could match the size of
Christ the King's Kofi Cockburn or Moses Brown, who's Molloy team they would
upset Sunday 64-62 for the school's first "AA" title since the Jamal
Mashburn led 1990 team.
Hayes began its intersectional
playoff run with a win against a talented Holy Cross team and then beat the
Archdiocese's top seed Mt. St. Michael's and the Brooklyn-Queens #2 seed Bishop
Loughlin in what were "upsets" because of seeding but with the league
so balanced it's hard to think of them that way.
With the
stage set for Sunday, Cardinal Hayes let everyone know they were ready for
battle. Guards Joe Toussaint and Jontai Williams connected on early triples to
help the Cardinals forge an early advantage. Just as important for Hayes' hot
start was that their inside guys established quickly that they too were ready
for a fight despite giving up height and length to Moses Brown and the
Stanners. Time and again players like Terrence Reaves, Terry Dawkins Mark
Jackson and Tyrese Williams played terrific position defense and outfought the
Stanners for position and rebounds under the basket. And when the Hayesmen
needed a play on offense Toussaint got it for them either with his scoring
ability (12 points) or his passing (9
assists). He and Williams who finished with a team high 15 points helped Hayes
maintain a small advantage throughout the game and set the stage for a
fantastic final quarter where Hayes' ability to make key plays and maintain
their poise made the difference.
Molloy's
Cole Anthony completed an and 1-three point play to end the third quarter and
cut Hayes' advantage to 49-46. The Stanners then opened the final period by
capping a 7-0 advantage when John Herring fed Moses Brown for a dunk. Suddenly
trailing 50-49 Hayes had a quick answer when Toussaint found Tyrese Williams
with a perfectly timed pass as he curled off a screen for a triple. And when
Molloy tied the game on a Herring jumper Hayes had another answer when the iron
was kind to a Toussaint jumper and Hayes led 54-52 with just under 4 minutes
left.
Anthony quickly
countered for Molloy, scoring on consecutive drives to give the Stanners a56-54 advantage. Then, in a game
loaded with talented underclassmen on both teams, a senior leader came up with
three gigantic plays for Cardinal Hayes. First he tipped in a miss to tie the
game at 56, following a Molloy basket he tied it again at 58, this time on a
foul line jumper. With the game tied at 58 on Hayes' next possession, Jackson
again got the ball at the foul line. This time, he drove to the basket, made a
righty finish through contact and completed the and 1 three point play to give
the Cardinals a 61-58 advantage with just over a minute left that they would
not relinquish.
Molloy
would not go down without a fight. Brown rebounded a three point miss and made
a pair of free throws to bring the Stanners within a point with just under 30
seconds left. They fouled quickly, sending Tyrese Williams to the line
where he made one of two free throws. Then
Joe Toussaint came up with perhaps his biggest of many big plays for this game.
Timing a pinch off his own man and stealing the ball. He was fouled and made
both free throws to push the advantage to 64-60. Brown followed in another miss
to make the score 64-62 Jontai Williams missed the front end of a 1 and 1 and
gave Molloy one last chance to tie it up.
Cole Anthony made the smart play given time and score, a great drive to
the basket to try and tie the game. But Hayes team defense, led by Tyrese Williams
did just enough to force a miss and help Hayes complete their improbable title
run. Williams and Toussaint reportedly shared MVP honors and each was deserving
for their clutch play, poise and toughness.
Congratulations to the Cardinals for completing a Cinderella season in
grand style and to Molloy who remains the Brooklyn Queens champions. The
sellout crowd was treated to a great early dose of March Madness and were
treated to as well played and competitive a game as you will find at any level
of basketball.
