It was supposed to be a foregone conclusion, as much of a sure thing in this unpredictable CHSAA boys basketball season as there could be.
After thrashing All Hallows by a combined 77 points in a pair of regular-season blowouts, Rice was supposed to manhandle the Gaels again and easily book its spot in Saturday’s New York Archdiocesan title game.
Yet, at halftime, the Raiders trailed by three. All Hallows threw the opening punch and it staggered the Raiders.
“They came out more aggressive than us, they were getting to every loose ball, they were getting a lot of offensive rebounds and their shooters were knocking down stuff,” Rice standout Jermaine Sanders said. “That just built their confidence up.”
Rice, though, regrouped at halftime and eventually put away the plucky Gaels, 69-57, Tuesday night at Mount St. Michael. The five-time defending Archdiocesan champions will play archrival St. Raymond’s in the title game Saturday afternoon. The top-seeded Ravens defeated No. 4 St. Peter’s, 69-59, in the other semifinal.
First-year Rice coach Dwayne Mitchell said Tuesday night’s game was a microcosm of the entire year – the Raiders, ranked No. 7 in the city by The Post, have been maddeningly inconsistent and the same was true against an All Hallows team that has lost eight straight games.
“That’s part of that inconsistency we’ve been having all year and it’s still there,” he said. “I just hope it’s a wake-up call for us to understand there is still a level of inconsistency with us and we have to get rid of it very quickly.”
Mitchell also singled out Sanders in his halftime talk. Especially without Melvin Johnson (injured leg) and Kevin Perez (personal reasons), the senior leader had to pick up his game.
“He’s going to the Big East, he’s going to a high level and he wants to play as a freshman,” Mitchell said. “In order to play as a freshman, you have to play at a high level right now.”
The Cincinnati-bound swingman responded, scoring 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as Rice (16-9) went on a 12-2 run in the third quarter to open up a 10-point lead, which all but sunk gutsy All Hallows (5-18), which was led by Ethan Hamlet (17 points) and Jon Brens (10 points).
“In the second half I just wanted to assert myself,” said Sanders, a finalist for Mr. New York Basketball. “I think we played great defense containing their shooters and I just know I had to pick up my scoring in the second half.”
Emmanuel Andujar had 13 points and Joshua Gomez added 12 for Rice, which scored seven straight points early in the fourth quarter to close out All Hallows, which meets St. Francis Prep in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional first round Sunday at Holy Cross.
“It’s coming toward the end of the season and sometimes kids just need to grow up and eventually understand the importance of coming to play hard all the time,” All Hallows coach John Carey said. “I think it’s a maturity thing.”
