Friars Win Another in the Rivalry
by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – They keep rolling along, piling up the wins and to an extent, surprising their veteran coach. St. Anthony’s scored a resounding 62-43 victory over St. Raymond’s (NY) Wednesday evening at the Golden Door Charter School in Jersey City.
Both teams struggled a bit on the offensive end in the early going of the MSG network high school Game of the Week. Over the course of the first four minutes, the homestanding Friars had a 2-0 lead on a penetration by senior forward Dave Bullock. Gradually, St. Anthony’s built on that single field goal, established their game inside and enjoyed a 14-6 lead at the quarter.
“They jumped on us early especially on the defensive end,” said St. Raymond’s coach Oliver Antigua.
St. Anthony’s showed a good deal of 1-3-1 zone and effectively trapped the wings. St. Raymond’s struggled throughout to get in a good offensive flow. With the defense setting the tone, the Friars got on track on the offensive end.
In the second quarter, St. Anthony’s expanded the lead. Junior swingman Miles Beatty scored all of his eleven points, which ranged from buckets in the lane to a three-pointer. At the half the Friars enjoyed a 30-17 edge.
The third quarter saw the Friars enjoying a double-digit lead that grew to 16. St. Raymond’s went on a run to get the deficit to nine, but St. Anthony’s regrouped with a 16-5 spurt of their own to seal the verdict.
“I was happy for the three seniors Dave (Bullock) Gio (Carenza) and Sean(Smith),” Friar coach Bob Hurley said. “They gave us good physical play. The (good) early start was important for us though we had a few spurts.”
Bullock led all scorers with 14 while sophomore guard Trevon Woodall added 12 and Beatty chipped in with 11. For the Ravens, Daryl Bryant was their lone double digit scorer with 13. St. Raymond’s fell to 15-7 and begins their New York City Catholic League playoffs next week. St. Anthony’s improved to 21-1 with the victory.
“They are always a great defensive team and it’s a great experience to play them every year,” Antigua said. “We had a hard time finding an offensive rhythm but it was a good experience for us.It shows what he have to work on.”
Notes
- Many prognosticators felt this was a season that St. Anthony’s would find a few bumps and pot holes on the road. So far the Friars are rolling along, with the only loss being an overtime decision to Norcross (Georgia) in the semifinals of the Chick-Fil-A Classic in South Carolina just before Christmas. Hurley himself has labeled this team a “work in progress,” yet is pleased with the development. “We are young,” he said, “but are deep. We don’t have a lot of seniors but the ones we have shown very good leadership to our younger players.” The younger players in particular are a trio of sophomore guards, Trevon Woodall, Michael Rosario and Jiovanny Fortan. A.J. Rogers, a 6-7 forward and another sophomore, has also given the Friars solid minutes in relief and developed over the course of the year.
- Basketball people will tell you watching Hurley direct his team is worth the price of admission. Well, in the Prime Time Shootout, the legendary coach did just that. It turns out that for the February 10 meeting with Riverdale Baptist(MD) at Trenton’s Sovereign bank Arena, the school’s administrative office faxed the list of players, managers, cheerleaders etc. who would make the trip to Prime Time. Absent from the list were Hurley and his outstanding assistant Ben Gamble. The Arena guard saw their names missing and had Hurley and Gamble pay the eight dollars admission. Another guard quickly recognized Hurley, but when they attempted to refund the money, he requested they just keep it on principle. The Friars then went out and posted a 57-33 victory.
- Among those in attendance were Seton Hall University assistant John Dunne, who brought Pirate players Donald Copeland and Brian Laing to the game. Copeland starred at St. Anthony’s while Laing is another fine product of the St. Raymond’s program. Laing, in fact, sat on the Ravens bench throughout the contest. For both players the contest brought back vivid memories.
“I remember my sophomore year when the team was young and if you made a mistake you got the hook (substituted),” said Copeland with a smile. “This team is young like we were back then but they are having a better season than we did.”
Laing noted the memories going through his mind as he watched from the Ravens’ bench. “There was always high intensity,” he said. “The (St. Anthony’s-St. Raymond’s) games were always defensive-oriented and you have two great coaches.” - Highly respected high school evaluator Tom Konchalski and St. Benedict’s coach Danny Hurley were among those in attendance.
- Chanelle Charles, a St. Anthony’s sophomore cheerleader, sang the national anthem.
- St. Anthony’s handily defeated St. Raymond’s in the JV game, with yours truly doing double duty on the night as one of the officials. In fact, the start of the second half of the JV contest was delayed 5 minutes while MSG taped an interview with Bob Hurley just by center court.
