WHITE PLAINS, NY - Wednesday’s scrimmage between the #2 ranked (NYC) Christ the King Royals and the #4 ranked (Westchester/Upstate) Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders was eye opening and displayed the weaknesses and strengths of both teams. NYCHoops.net along with two colleges were on hand to check it out.
With assistant coaches Bobby Hurley (Wagner) and Garee Bryant (Iona) watching attentively, Stepinac and C.T.K played five surprisingly competitive sets.
SET ONE
The Royals dominated the opening set as 6’5” UConn-bound senior Omar Calhoun and 6’2” junior guard Isaiah Lewis worked well together in a give and take. The Crusaders were lifted by good inside play from 6’6” senior forward Devino McRae and 5’10 point guard Tyler Iaccoune.
(23-11; Christ the King)
SET TWO
6’6” junior Jordan Fuchs played aggressive on the boards and got some timely putbacks. Stepinac exploited the Royals lack of front court depth and stayed neck and neck. 5’11 sophomore guard Naim Thomas and junior guard Malik Oness were able to penetrate and with 3:17 left in the set a bucket by McRae put the Crusaders up 11-10. Calhoun and Lewis teamed up for a 6-0 run that presumably put the Royals comfortably ahead by 5 with 1:58 but offense by 6'0" junior Josh James and buzzer beating trey by Oness put Stepinac over the top.
(21-20; Archbishop Stepinac)
SET THREE
The third set featured both team’s benches and the Royals would come out ahead in a low scoring high turnover affair.
(10-6; Christ the King)
SET FOUR
The Crusaders would quickly burst ahead 6-2 as James abilities to score in transition shined. 6’1” junior guard Jonathan Severe would step up his game as well for the Royals but with 4:26 left in the set, Stepinac still maintained an 8-3 advantage. 6’1 senior Quarry Greenaway and Iaccoune showed their defensive abilities an back-to-back-to-back buckets by each put the White Plains squad up 16-7 at the 2:45 mark. A putback by 6’9” sophomore Adonis Dela Rosa and a 3-ball by Lewis pulled CTK within 6-point of the lead but Greenaway and Iaccuone closed the show.
(23-16; Archbishop Stepinac)
SET FIVE
In the final set of the evening, the Royals came out strong as a Sever drive put them ahead 7-0 early but James would blow-by CTK defenders to ignite a 7-2 run to narrow the gap with 4:45 left to play. Lewis and Calhoun would reestablish the Royals lead with an 8-2 run. Down by 8 points with 2 minutes left to play, Iaccuone and Greenaway would cut the Royals lead in half. With the Crusaders gain momentum and 33.5 second left Fuchs would drain a clutch momentum cutting three pointer that would propel CTK to victory.
(22-13; Christ the King)
ANALYSIS :
Archbishop Stepinac is undersized, not deep and will probably have problems against bigger and/or more athletic teams. Compounding matters, now that they have been upgraded to CHSAA AA division they have a tougher in-league schedule that includes competing against St. Raymond and Cardinal Hayes. With that being said, they also proved that they are scrappy and can hang with premier teams like Christ the King after being dominated by a faster paced #9 ranked (NYC) Wings Academy in a previous scrimmage. James turned it on in spurts and is clearly the Crusader’s best player but Greenaway and Iaccoune, overall, were the difference makers. McRae also show his rebounding and scoring ability down-low. If they can cut down on turnovers and some ill advised shots, they will turn some heads this season.
Christ the King played a cohesive game in their backcourt as Calhoun, Lewis and Severe did work but the Royals showed cracks in the armor of the front court. With Dela Rosa’s un-athleticism and Fuchs preference of playing out on the wing, Stepinac was able to more than compete for rebounds in the paint and get second chance opportunities. The back court of Royals is deadly enough to get them by most teams but they will need improved and consistent play Dela Rosa and 6’7” Martly Senat who was pretty much invisible during the scrimmage.
Remember that scrimmages are not actual games. Scrimmages are five to six sets as opposed to four quarters and often times coaches are trying out different groups of five starting players and rotations. In addition, the scoreboard is re-set to 0-0 after each set with no deficit being carried over and no one fouls out. While there are no winners or losers, evaluations can me made as to how players perform, how a team performs and is progressing as a unit and how they could potentially match up against other teams.
This post was edited on 12/1 12:04 PM by mwingate
With assistant coaches Bobby Hurley (Wagner) and Garee Bryant (Iona) watching attentively, Stepinac and C.T.K played five surprisingly competitive sets.
SET ONE
The Royals dominated the opening set as 6’5” UConn-bound senior Omar Calhoun and 6’2” junior guard Isaiah Lewis worked well together in a give and take. The Crusaders were lifted by good inside play from 6’6” senior forward Devino McRae and 5’10 point guard Tyler Iaccoune.
(23-11; Christ the King)
SET TWO
6’6” junior Jordan Fuchs played aggressive on the boards and got some timely putbacks. Stepinac exploited the Royals lack of front court depth and stayed neck and neck. 5’11 sophomore guard Naim Thomas and junior guard Malik Oness were able to penetrate and with 3:17 left in the set a bucket by McRae put the Crusaders up 11-10. Calhoun and Lewis teamed up for a 6-0 run that presumably put the Royals comfortably ahead by 5 with 1:58 but offense by 6'0" junior Josh James and buzzer beating trey by Oness put Stepinac over the top.
(21-20; Archbishop Stepinac)
SET THREE
The third set featured both team’s benches and the Royals would come out ahead in a low scoring high turnover affair.
(10-6; Christ the King)
SET FOUR
The Crusaders would quickly burst ahead 6-2 as James abilities to score in transition shined. 6’1” junior guard Jonathan Severe would step up his game as well for the Royals but with 4:26 left in the set, Stepinac still maintained an 8-3 advantage. 6’1 senior Quarry Greenaway and Iaccoune showed their defensive abilities an back-to-back-to-back buckets by each put the White Plains squad up 16-7 at the 2:45 mark. A putback by 6’9” sophomore Adonis Dela Rosa and a 3-ball by Lewis pulled CTK within 6-point of the lead but Greenaway and Iaccuone closed the show.
(23-16; Archbishop Stepinac)
SET FIVE
In the final set of the evening, the Royals came out strong as a Sever drive put them ahead 7-0 early but James would blow-by CTK defenders to ignite a 7-2 run to narrow the gap with 4:45 left to play. Lewis and Calhoun would reestablish the Royals lead with an 8-2 run. Down by 8 points with 2 minutes left to play, Iaccuone and Greenaway would cut the Royals lead in half. With the Crusaders gain momentum and 33.5 second left Fuchs would drain a clutch momentum cutting three pointer that would propel CTK to victory.
(22-13; Christ the King)
ANALYSIS :
Archbishop Stepinac is undersized, not deep and will probably have problems against bigger and/or more athletic teams. Compounding matters, now that they have been upgraded to CHSAA AA division they have a tougher in-league schedule that includes competing against St. Raymond and Cardinal Hayes. With that being said, they also proved that they are scrappy and can hang with premier teams like Christ the King after being dominated by a faster paced #9 ranked (NYC) Wings Academy in a previous scrimmage. James turned it on in spurts and is clearly the Crusader’s best player but Greenaway and Iaccoune, overall, were the difference makers. McRae also show his rebounding and scoring ability down-low. If they can cut down on turnovers and some ill advised shots, they will turn some heads this season.
Christ the King played a cohesive game in their backcourt as Calhoun, Lewis and Severe did work but the Royals showed cracks in the armor of the front court. With Dela Rosa’s un-athleticism and Fuchs preference of playing out on the wing, Stepinac was able to more than compete for rebounds in the paint and get second chance opportunities. The back court of Royals is deadly enough to get them by most teams but they will need improved and consistent play Dela Rosa and 6’7” Martly Senat who was pretty much invisible during the scrimmage.
Remember that scrimmages are not actual games. Scrimmages are five to six sets as opposed to four quarters and often times coaches are trying out different groups of five starting players and rotations. In addition, the scoreboard is re-set to 0-0 after each set with no deficit being carried over and no one fouls out. While there are no winners or losers, evaluations can me made as to how players perform, how a team performs and is progressing as a unit and how they could potentially match up against other teams.
This post was edited on 12/1 12:04 PM by mwingate
