ST. RAYMOND OUTLASTS SCANLAN IN VARS2 RUMBLE OF THE BRONX, RAYS WINS 68-61
BRONX, NY – Scanlan’s Coach King, “tonight we learned a lot about what we need to work on in order to win these types of games. Some people think of Vars2 as intramural, but in fact, these teams are A and B level CHSAA caliber, so just like competing at the AA level, or any league, IQ is priority and we were inconsistent tonight and lost a game we had a chance to win despite all of the other injections. The experience was a great lesson for my guys. We’re looking forward to seeing St. Raymond at our place, but right now we must focus on having a solid workout today preparing for our next war in Brooklyn vs. Loughlin this Saturday afternoon.”
Scanlan jumped out early with their signature pressure and stunned St. Raymond for an eight count forcing Rays to call a good time out to stop the bleeding. After a few traded baskets St. Raymond forward DJ Copeland turned up the heat inside scoring 10 points in the frame which created problems for Scanlan accompanied by his teammate Lamere Grant who also dropped 8. Scanlan closed out the quarter with their own run lead by Kazyli Hamilton, Ethan Lithgow and Julian Mejia with 6 points each. 24-21 Rays.
The second quarter turned into the St. Ray’s show where they outscored Scanlan 19-8 mainly from the free-throw line shooting 13 freebies and the game began to shift in a big way. Both teams we’re playing aggressive but it was the free-throws by Rays and turnovers by Scanlan that made the difference. 43-29 Rays.
This is where it gets interesting — Scanlan starts the third with Jr. Caiden Reynolds who hadn’t seen minutes during the season who rose to the occasion sparking a strong start in the third cutting into the 14 point deficit quick despite the foul trouble which benched three of the Scanlan starters periodically. Coach King’s fire became his teams mission with Jr. Brian Visciano coming to life scoring 11 of his 18 and bang, the brick-by-brick motto shared throughout the program carried the weight and Scanlan outscores Rays 17-9 in the third. 46-52 Rays.
Entering the final frame of the “Rumble of the Bronx” as these two schools are literally 11 minutes away from each other off the “Cross Bronx Expressway,” you could feel the tide turning in favor of the Crusaders, but it wasn’t going to be easy. With Scanlan in deep foul trouble, never getting the bonus one & one throughout the game seemed too frustrate Scanlan players and the staff. Despite the obvious frustration the Crusaders were still able to get into the game 61-64 with less than 90 seconds left with big hustle steals, but missed a chippy that may have been the momentum shift the Crusaders needed.
Overall the turnovers, questionable shot selection down the stretch, in addition to the 33 free throws by St. Rays and 11 by Scanlan was the difference.
Meanwhile the AA Boys JV & Varsity branches of these programs meet tonight to finish the exam which should be interesting to say the least.
Up next for Scanlan Vars2 @ Bishop Loughlin Saturday, Dec. 11 - 3:00PM
Monsignor Scanlan Boxscore
B. Visciano 18, Kazyli Hamilton 16, Julian Mejia 10, Ethan Lithgow 6, Dwight Smith 6
Total Team Fouls: 22
Free-Throws(M/A): 3-11
St. Raymond Boxscore
D. Copeland 23, L. Grant 16, M Guye 12, J. Opaie 6, B. White 6, J. Barquero 5
Total Team Fouls: 10
Free-Throws (M/A): 16-33