After a tough opening season loss to New Rochelle, a young and impressionable St. Raymond Ravens were sorely in need of a victory against the Iona Prep Gaels on Sunday. The Ravens unfortunately would continue to suffer growing pains as Iona Prep handed them their second loss, 71-60.
The Gaels, ranked #2 in Westchester, pulled out in front early with a good inside pressence from Brian Voelkel and perimeter shots from Sandro Carrissimo. The Ravens surged ahead late in the quarter with transition buckets by Nkeruewem "Kerwin" Okero. With 1:04 remaining in the quarter, both teams were knotted at 12 but conversions by Voekel and Jordan Bonner gave Iona the upper hand going into the second.
Okoro, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, was doing work in the paint which kept the Ravens in the game as did Daniel Dingle, a 6-foot-6 sophomore. Midway through the quarter, Iona switched from a box and 1 defense to and pursued more traps. While they did achieve turnovers, the Gaels failed to capitalize on freethrows and conversions after offensive rebounds. Subsequent points in transition, increases St. Rays lead to 29-23 with 3:22 left in the half. A three pointer by Voekel reduced the gap to 2 but a jumper by Derick Bryson-Santiago at the buzzer gave St. Rays a 34-30 lead at the half.
Iona continued to trap to start the third but also continued having trouble at the freethrow line. Buckets by Aaron Savage and Carrissimo would, however, tie the score at 38 with 5:31 left in th third.
As the quarter was winding down both team attacked aggressively inside as the lead changed hands frequently . A hook shot by Savage gave the Gaels the advantage with 26 seconds remaining but a feed from Okoro to Dingle tie the game once again as the thid quarter wrapped up.
Stalmated at 53 apiece, to start the fourth, two quick Ravens turnovers put Iona up by 5 points with 6:45 remaining in regulation. Larry Graves would score going coast to coast to pull St. Rays to within 3 but the Gaels were countering with buckets in transition.
The Ravens did receive style point props from their home team crowd for ineffective and1 moves and missed dunks while Iona extended their lead with good fundamental basketball. A 3-pointer by Voekel with 3:38 left in the game and the Gaels had gained a substantial lead, 66-57.
Out of a timeout, the Ravens began pressing with a sense of urgency while Iona slow the game down to milk the clock. Still down by 7 points at the 1:36 mark, St. Ray's began taking rushed perimeter shots. Dingle would only cut the lead to 6 points, going 1-2 from the foul line while a strong move in the paint by Voekel and freethrows by Bronner extended the lead back to 9 points with under a minute. As St. Ray's hopes faded like sand in an hour glass, Iona reached their largest lead at 11 and would go on to win their season opener while the Ravens continued their season win-less.
Bronner scored a game high 22 points with Voelkel added 19 points and solid rebounding. Carrissimo contributed 13 points. Okoro and Dingle led St. Ray's with 15 points apiece.
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The Gaels, ranked #2 in Westchester, pulled out in front early with a good inside pressence from Brian Voelkel and perimeter shots from Sandro Carrissimo. The Ravens surged ahead late in the quarter with transition buckets by Nkeruewem "Kerwin" Okero. With 1:04 remaining in the quarter, both teams were knotted at 12 but conversions by Voekel and Jordan Bonner gave Iona the upper hand going into the second.
Okoro, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, was doing work in the paint which kept the Ravens in the game as did Daniel Dingle, a 6-foot-6 sophomore. Midway through the quarter, Iona switched from a box and 1 defense to and pursued more traps. While they did achieve turnovers, the Gaels failed to capitalize on freethrows and conversions after offensive rebounds. Subsequent points in transition, increases St. Rays lead to 29-23 with 3:22 left in the half. A three pointer by Voekel reduced the gap to 2 but a jumper by Derick Bryson-Santiago at the buzzer gave St. Rays a 34-30 lead at the half.
Iona continued to trap to start the third but also continued having trouble at the freethrow line. Buckets by Aaron Savage and Carrissimo would, however, tie the score at 38 with 5:31 left in th third.
As the quarter was winding down both team attacked aggressively inside as the lead changed hands frequently . A hook shot by Savage gave the Gaels the advantage with 26 seconds remaining but a feed from Okoro to Dingle tie the game once again as the thid quarter wrapped up.
Stalmated at 53 apiece, to start the fourth, two quick Ravens turnovers put Iona up by 5 points with 6:45 remaining in regulation. Larry Graves would score going coast to coast to pull St. Rays to within 3 but the Gaels were countering with buckets in transition.
The Ravens did receive style point props from their home team crowd for ineffective and1 moves and missed dunks while Iona extended their lead with good fundamental basketball. A 3-pointer by Voekel with 3:38 left in the game and the Gaels had gained a substantial lead, 66-57.
Out of a timeout, the Ravens began pressing with a sense of urgency while Iona slow the game down to milk the clock. Still down by 7 points at the 1:36 mark, St. Ray's began taking rushed perimeter shots. Dingle would only cut the lead to 6 points, going 1-2 from the foul line while a strong move in the paint by Voekel and freethrows by Bronner extended the lead back to 9 points with under a minute. As St. Ray's hopes faded like sand in an hour glass, Iona reached their largest lead at 11 and would go on to win their season opener while the Ravens continued their season win-less.
Bronner scored a game high 22 points with Voelkel added 19 points and solid rebounding. Carrissimo contributed 13 points. Okoro and Dingle led St. Ray's with 15 points apiece.
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