Over the past two seasons, Iona Prep and Bishop Ford had three classic encounters in front of overflow crowds, splitting the last two CHSAA Class A intersectional titles and playing one of the most dramatic regular-season games of last season.
On Thursday afternoon, though, the crowd didn’t show up at Bishop Ford and neither did the Falcons, falling 72-52 in one of the most lopsided games of the budding rivalry.
“You can put it in any order you’d like — alphabetical order, chronological order — nothing worked today,” Bishop Ford coach John Infortunio said. “I think we just didn’t come ready to play the game today.”
The game didn’t quite have the buzz of the magical previous meetings. Chaz Williams, who returned to watch the game, is now a freshman at Hofstra University and Kamari Murphy, a highly touted junior power forward, transferred to PSAL powerhouse Lincoln earlier this month.
Iona Prep, though, returns virtually every key player from last year’s championship squad and is the overwhelming favorite to repeat.
“Iona is a great team, but they’re very beatable,” Bishop Ford senior guard Justyn McMichael said. “We didn’t come to play hard. We didn’t play with the same intensity we normally play with.”
The game wasn’t devoid of drama, though. Infortunio was hit with a technical foul in the first quarter and Iona Prep star Brian Voelkel, a versatile 6-foot-6 senior, was ejected in the second quarter after picking up two technical fouls as both teams complained about the officiating.
“That could have been an opportunity for us to capitalize, but we didn’t,” McMichael said. “We didn’t show up to play today.”
Instead, Iona Prep (3-2) appeared to be sparked by Voelkel’s ejection, quickly extending a six-point lead to 13 at the break, capitalizing on 15 first-half turnovers by Bishop Ford.
“We looked like we were never able to get it into second gear against them,” Infortunio said. “And you can’t do that against a team like this. They’re good outside and inside.”
Sandro Carissimo, who will join Voelkel at the University of Vermont next year, scored a game-high 23 points, Jeff Mack added 15 and Jordan Bronner had 13 for the Gaels.
McMichael had 16 points, while Naquan Ellerbe added 12 for the inconsistent Falcons, who fell to 3-3 on the season.
“It’s disappointing. I’m waiting for a game, a moment, a situation to arise with this team where they’re able to get into the next gear,” Infortunio said. “So far in the early part of the season, that hasn’t happened yet. I think we’re a better team than this. They’re a really good team, but I don’t think they’re 20 points better than us. … But they were 20 points better than us today.”
