Rice is the defending CHSAA and New York State Federation Class AA champions and the favorite to repeat in March. In case that was in doubt, the top-ranked team in The Post’s New York City boys basketball rankings put the rest of the city on notice yesterday with an 83-48 win at St. Raymond in The Bronx.
In a statement game, no one spoke louder than Kadeem Jack. The 6-foot-8 senior forward, who only started playing organized basketball four years ago, had 19 points and eight blocks in a dominant performance in the paint.
“We set the tone for the league,” Jack said. “We had a couple of losses in the beginning, but I think we’re getting back to where we should be.”
A year ago, Rice coach Mo Hicks raved about Jack’s potential. That is finally being displayed on the court. Jack was named the MVP of the Glaxo-Smith-Kline Invitational in Raleigh, N.C. in late December. His confidence, and his stock, has soared.
“I didn’t really know what I could do,” Jack said. “I think a light came on in Carolina. I really started coming into my own. I think I showed it here.”
Now, Jack said, he has scholarship offers from Arizona, Florida and Arkansas on the table and has drawn interest from Texas and California, among a bevy of other Division I schools.
“He’s a great athlete and his timing on blocked shots is phenomenal,” St. Raymond’s coach Oliver Antigua said. “There were some questions on what level he can play on, but forget about that. He can just do things that are special.”
In a physical game that featured 52 total fouls and saw four players foul out, Jack set the tone on the defensive end in the first half, swatting away any shot that came his way. The native of Trinidad & Tobago then made noise offensively, sending down a two-handed dunk while getting fouled with 3:32 left in the third quarter as Rice (8-2, 3-0) put the game away with a 23-4 run.
“I think we did send a message beating them by this much,” said junior forward Jermaine Sanders, who also scored 19 points.
With Kansas State-bound Shane Southwell, who is serving the first of a two-game suspension after being ejected from a non-league game last weekend, on the bench, joining Scott Arias (sprained ankle) and Emmanuel Andujar (sick), the Raiders depth was on full display Sunday afternoon.
Junior point guard Devaughn Reid, who spent last year as an apprentice of sorts to Durand Scott, made the most of the start, scoring 16 points.
“He’s learning how to be poised and did a great job for us down the stretch,” Hicks said. “When Shane’s not there, he’s our No. 1 guy handling the ball. I think this could be a good lift for him confidence-wise.”
Sophomores Daniel Dingle (13 points) and Kerwin Okoro (10 points) led St. Ray’s (4-3, 1-1), which showed its youth against a veteran Rice team.
“There were some things physically we had a tough time doing,” Antigua said. “You could say, yeah, its harder, they’re quicker, they’re stronger…The manner in which we lost was disappointing because of the things they were allowed to do. There was no resistance from us. We could have given them a better fight.”
