CHSAA PLAYOFFS
Rice couldn’t lose to 9-16 St. Francis, right? Well if you answered no, have a seat, because your wrong.
St. Francis, the Brooklyn/Queens No. 6 seed, did indeed, upset Rice, the New York No. 4 seed, 70-63 in the first round of the CHSAA playoffs yesterday at Manhattan College.
Rice grabbed control early. Junior guard Keydren Clark scored 21 first -half points and Rice (13-12) hit on 13 of 27 field goals before halftime.
But things went south for Rice in the second half as the Raiders hit on just 8 of 29 field goals and Clark was held to just five points.
St. Francis started to rally with just under five minutes left in the third quarter and Rice up 53-37. The Terriers held Rice scoreless for the rest of the quarter and pulled within one point, 53-52, as the fourth quarter began.
Senior forward Rashad Bell, who had a game-high 26 points, gave St. Francis its first lead, 55-53, on a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth.
The Terriers didn’t hit another field goal, but scored 15 points from the free throw line and held the Raiders scoreless for a total of 9:27.
“It could have been my last game,” said St. Francis senior forward Kevin White, who had 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds and six assists. “We wanted to keep [the season] going.”
The Terriers move on to the second-round, where they’ll face New York No. 1 seed Holy Cross on Wednesday night.
Christ the King 50, McClancy 49 (OT)
Brooklyn/Queens No. 3 Christ the King nearly suffered a major upset at the hands of Brooklyn/Queens No. 7 Msgr. McClancy, but pulled out a 50-49 win in overtime.
Senior center Robert Barrett scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while teammate Japhet McNeil added 10 points and nine assists for Christ the King (17-9), which has won 12 of 14 since starting the season at 5-7. The Royals move on to face New York No. 2 St. Raymond’s on Thursday at Manhattan College.
Senior guard Kevin Bishop led McClancy (10-16) with a game-high 19 points.
Bishop Loughlin 84, St. Peter’s 70
Behind 11 straight points from Curtis Sumpter, Brooklyn/Queens No. 5 Loughlin (22-3) outscored New York No. 4 St Peter’s and 50-27 in the second half to advance to round two, where they’ll go against Brooklyn/Queens No. 1 Xaverian on Thursday night.
Archbishop Molloy 72, LaSalle 42
John Sikiric scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Brooklyn/Queens No. 4 Molloy (18-9) over New York No. 5 LaSalle (10-16).
The Stanners will face New York No. 1 All Hallows at Manhattan College on Wednesday.
