NOT IN THE CARDS!
Prep takes Hayes to overtime but can’t beat No. 1 NY seed
THE CARDINAL Hayes boys basketball players poke fun at head coach Joe Lods for his frequent use of the phrase “Don’t panic.”
That was the message he was sending his players Tuesday night when the Cardinals were down six points to Iona Prep with 3:20 left, staring their second loss in nine days in the face after not losing a game all season until last Monday.
It may be a running joke among the team, but the senior-heavy Cardinals heeded their coach’s words, overcoming the deficit and a Prep 3-pointer that forced overtime to defeat the Gaels 70-64 in the first CHSAA ‘AA’ Archdiocesan semifinal Tuesday night at Mount St. Michael in the Bronx.
The Cardinals advance to Saturday’s championship game, also at Mount, where they will play St. Peter’s — the only team they’ve lost to this season. St. Peter’s, the No. 2 seed, beat No. 3 St. Raymond, 68-57, in the other semifinal.
For a Hayes team with serious aspirations of winning its first city title since 1991, winning the Archdiocesan title is the next definitive step in proving they’re the favorites to win it all.
“We needed this one,” Lods said.
Sen ior Ch r is Robinson sank one of two free throws and senior Shavar Newkirk followed up with two to cut the lead to three with 1:54 left. Newkirk, who had 13 of his 18 points after halftime, drilled a spinning jumper in the paint with 1:17 left to cut the lead to one. After a missed free throw on a oneand-one from Prep senior Isiah Ice, Hayes senior Jamal Smith was fouled when he converted a baseline floater with 55.6 seconds left in regulation and gave the Cardinals (24-1) a 60-58 lead after hitting the free throw.
Newkirk then hit one of two free throws with about 30 seconds left before Prep sophomore Ty Jerome, who had a game-high 23 points, sank a game-tying 3-pointer with about 11 seconds left. Shavar Newkirk’s contested jumper at the buzzer was no good, prompting overtime.
Cardinal Hayes didn’t lose its first game of the season until last Monday against St. Peter’s in overtime. These types of nail-biters aren’t new for Hayes, so for a leader like Newkirk, he knew exactly what had to get done for his team to pull it out.
“This is one of those games we have to fight out of,” he said.
Hayes sophomore Clive Allen nailed a left-corner 3-pointer to kickoff overtime, immediately grabbing momentum for Hayes. After shooting well all game, the Gaels went a bit cold and couldn’t grab defensive rebounds, allowing the Cardinals to survive and advance.
“Clive is like a J.R. Smith: He just wants to fire away,” Newkirk said.
Without highly-recruited junior star Matt Ryan, who will undergo labrum surgery on both hips, the Gaels (13-13,) who lost to Hayes twice during the regular season, weren’t considered much of a threat in the postseason. But lightsout shooting from Jerome, Ice (17 points) and junior Tom Capuano (22 points) gave Prep a legitimate shot at an upset. Capuano took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight Iona Prep points, punctuated by a right elbow 3-pointer that prompted an emphatic fist pump and the Hayes timeout with 3:20 left in the game.
Hayes senior Mustafa Jones had 14 points and Robinson added 11.