While he joined his teammates in celebrating an overtime win at Holy Cross Tuesday, Franklyn Garcia was disappointed in his performance. The St. Raymond’s senior felt he let his team down and vowed to quickly bounce back.
“It was just a tough game,” Garcia said. “I made some early turnovers and I wasn’t in it. My mind was out of the game. Coach told me to try harder this game and that’s what I did.”
Garcia did that and more, leading the Ravens to a 70-62 CHSAA Class AA victory against visiting Bishop Loughlin Sunday in The Bronx.
While the Ravens juniors – Daniel Dingle and Kerwin Okoro – receive much of the attention, Garcia earned a starting spot with a solid preseason.
“Frank is actually the glue to this team,” Dingle said. “He does everything we need him to do. He rebounds, plays defense, guards the best player and makes all the right assists.”
On Sunday, Garcia made all the big shots, beginning with a steal and a 3-pointer that beat the first quarter buzzer and tied the game at 15.
“I saw Larry [Graves] was open, but I knew I could make that shot and I just wanted to get a good shot early,” Garcia said. “Usually when I get something going early, that gives me rhythm and I can play better throughout the whole game.”
Garcia again beat the buzzer with a layup to end the third quarter, extending the Ravens lead to 52-41. And when Bishop Loughlin (6-9, 3-4 Brooklyn/Queens) rallied to get within five late, Garcia made four critical free throws in the final 15.4 seconds to seal a second consecutive league win.
“He made great plays and I’m happy for him,” St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua said. “He’s a kid who works hard, is a good student. As a senior, you try to find a place for him to play. These games help him. Hopefully someone sees him and wants to give him a chance to play somewhere.”
Garcia led St. Ray’s (10-7, 4-1 Archdiocesan New York) with 15 points, Dingle added 14 points and 12 rebounds, Graves had 13 points and Okoro had 11 points and 10 boards.
Senior Davonte Dunham, who was spectacular in a huge win at Rice on Friday, had 15 points and five assists, Joel Angus had 12 points, Travis Charles had 11 points and nine rebounds and Khadeen Carrington added eight points and three steals for Bishop Loughlin, which shot 15-of-27 from the foul line.
The Ravens were 23-of-27 from the line.
“The Rice win was a huge one for them. I watched them compete from end to end and they battled today,” Antigua said of Loughlin. “They played hard, but I think we got a little lucky, a couple of breaks went our way and we made some free throws.”
Beating Loughlin on Sunday was huge for St. Ray’s. In this year’s wild CHSAA Class AA, back-to-back wins do not come easy.
“This is becoming like the Big East,” Dingle said. “Anyone can win on any given night. We took the loss to Rice hard and [Loughlin] just beat Rice on Friday. We’re sending a statement that we’re here and we’re still contenders.”
The Ravens have another litmus test Friday night against defending New York State Class AA Federation champion Christ the King.
“Because we’ve played so many road games, I feel confident we’ll be ready for that challenge,” Antigua said. “It will be a good measuring stick to see how good we really are.”
