No. 2 Raiders turn back No. 1 Saints
Cornell continues roll against ranked teams
Cornell’s Kaden Divito cheers a 3-pointer against visiting Nazareth Prep Friday night. Cornell, ranked No. 2 in WPIAL Class 1A, defeated No. 1 Nazareth Prep, 78-59.
The Nazareth Prep Saints marched into Coraopolis Friday night as the No. 1ranked team in WPIAL Class 1A. They left town after being defeated soundly by a team that made its case for being the best in the classification.
Second-ranked Cornell connected on nine first-half 3-pointers, had four players score in double figures and took over the Section 1 lead by beating Nazareth Prep, 78-59.
It was the ninth win in a row for Cornell (13-2, 6-1), which has not lost since a 77-75 defeat in double overtime Dec. 14 at Nazareth Prep (9-2, 6-2). The Raiders notched their third win against a ranked team in less than two weeks. The previous two were against Union and Vincentian. Nazareth Prep’s loss was its first since Dec. 18.
“I’m not going say we’re the best, but we’re working for that every day,” junior guard Kaden DiVito said. “We took out the top three teams in our section the past couple of weeks. We’re on a roll right now.”
DiVito entered the game ranked fourth in the WPIAL in scoring with 27 points per game. Friday, he was the fourth-leading scorer on his team. Cornell showed they are much more than just DiVito, as Jeavontae King-Walden scored 20 points, Isaiah Langston 19 and Zaier Harrison 17.
DiVito scored 16, including four 3pointers. Langston, King-Walden and Luke Piccolo — the team’s lone senior — made two 3-pointers apiece. The Raiders finished with 11 overall.
Bill Sacco, Cornell’s venerable coach, said this is the best shooting team he has had in his 17 seasons at the school.
“I just thought the rest of the guys shot the ball pretty well tonight,” Sacco said. “Of course, being on your home court helps a lot. Jeavontae King-Walden, I don’t what he ate for supper, but he was really good.”
Cornell was really good from the start. King-Walden’s old-fashioned three-point play and two long DiVito 3-pointers staked the Raiders to a 9-0 lead two minutes into the game. They held a 20-10 advantage after one quarter and used five second-quarter 3-pointers to take a commanding, 45-23 halftime lead.
“They hit us from the beginning,” said Nazareth Prep coach Nehemiah Brazil. “They made big shots. They got the lead. They got the momentum. They had the crowd behind them. We struggled.
“That was really the difference because the second half we outscored them by a few points, but, when you’re down by 22 points at halftime on the road, that’s a huge mountain to climb.”
The Saints tried to scale it, though. They went on an 8-0 run to close the third quarter to cut the deficit to 59-44. They pulled within 13 points at 66-53 with 1:40 left in the game, but Cornell responded by going 12 of 12 from the free-throw line to seal the victory.
It already has been a successful season for Nazareth Prep, a small Catholic school in Emsworth. It was known as Holy Family Academy before changing its name last year.
The basketball program is in its third season in the WPIAL. It reached the playoffs for the first time last season.
Junior forward Will Taylor paced Nazareth Prep with 24 points and Eugene Goodwine chipped in 15. The Saints did not shoot well, particularly from long range. Goodwine made their only 3-pointer. The Saints used their size advantage to score most of their points down low, many on put-backs.
Brazil said he wouldn’t be surprised if his team sees Cornell again in the playoffs.
“When you look at them you may think they’re not that deep, but the guys who play, they bring their hard hat to the game every time,” he said.
“There’s no quit in those guys. It took everything we had to pull that first game out.”