CHSAA A championship: Iona vs. Ford
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- March
- 7
9:50: Bishop Ford wins 71-64. Chaz Williams had 24 of his 30 points in the second half as Ford comes back from a 16-point deficit in the final nine minutes.
Brian Voelkel had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Iona, and Andre Pope added 21 points.
9:48: Iona’s backups are in and the crowd is filtering out. Ford leads 71-62 with 15.4 seconds left. I cannot comprehend how quickly this game changed. It’s all because of Williams’ incredible final minute of the third quarter. Iona wasn’t the same after that.
9:43: Ford has completely decimated Iona in these final thre eminutes. They lead 70-60 with 50 seconds left and are headed for the title.
9:38: Six straight points by Ford, including a steal and fast-break lay-up by Williams, who has been absolutely sensation. Ford leads 65-60 with 1:09 to play. Ford actually just got an offensive rebound off a missed free throw, so it’s their ball.
9:34: Two free throws by Voelkel. Iona leads 60-59 with 2:25 left.
9:32: I’m watching unbelievable basketball at the moment. Williams just put Ford ahead 59-58 with a three-point play. That’s the score with 2:35 left.
9:26: There’s absolutely no stopping Williams right now. He just put in a crazy lay-up and is gearing up for a few huge final quarter. Iona leads 58-54 with 4:46 to play.
9:18: Unbelievable sequence to close the half. Chaz Williams put back a missed free throw with an acrobatic lay-up with 6 seconds left. He then raced to the other end of the floor and intercepted a full-court lob at the Iona foul line. He somehow dribbled up and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Iona leads 51-43 after three quarters. But it’s a little shaky right now.
9:11: Pope just hit his third 3-pointer of the quarter. He’s got 21 points. Iona by 12.
9:10: Chaz Williams, who is headed to Hofstra, and Andre Pope put on a nice little show for a bit before. Williams has seven points this quarter but Ford still trails 44-34 with 2:40 left in the third.
9:03: Ford has come out hot. It has pulled within 36-27. Iona timeout.
8:59: About to start the second half
8:49: HALFTIME — Iona Prep lead 34-21. Brian Voelkel has 13 points and Andre Pope has 12. Voelkel has been awesome on the boards, pulling down nine rebounds. Pope and Jeffrey Mack have done a great job against Ford point guard Chaz Williams. He was scoreless for the first 13 minutes and has six at the break.
8:46: Iona leads 34-17 with 1:08 left in the half. Great defensive effort so far on Chaz Williams, Ford’ star point guard.
8:38: Voelkel hits a step-back jumper and Ryan O’Neil drained a 3-pointer, giving Iona a 23-13 lead with 5:14 left in the first half.
8:35: The game just stopped as renowned basketball ref Billy Sacco stumbled and fell running up the floor. He was clutching his right knee. But it looks like he’ll be all right. It looked terrible at first.
8:31: Iona Prep leads 18-13 after the first. Pope has eight points. Voelkel has six.
8:26: Six straight points by Andre Pope has given Iona a 16-11 lead with 1:42 left.
8:23: It’s 10-8 Iona Prep with 3:37 left in the first quarter. Brian Voelkel scored teh game’s first six points for Iona.
8:15: The CHSAA A championship is about to tip-off… 15 minutes late, as expected. Check back for updates.
Starting lineup for Iona:
Brian Voelkel
Justin Walters
Ryan O’Neil
Jordan Bronner
Andre Pope
Tough loss for Iona Prep. Most teams will lose so many players that it would be hard to stomach such a defeat. Iona Prep will be very good next year, so the future is bright.
Iona was up 51-36 in the 3rd quarter and Pope got his 3rd foul, he had to come out and voelkel went out too. The backups were in and Bishop Ford went on a 7-0 run. Turning point of the game
Great season Iona
I remember reading a comment on this blog like a month ago, and some knucklehead(Probably from New Rochelle) said that Iona Prep “WILL meet Peekskill at the federation championships this year, thats if Peekskill can make it that far, and BEAT PEEKSKILL because ALL they have is Mookie Jones..”
...The Funny part about that comment when i think of it now, is that the Peekskill Team has 3 more Potential D-1 ball players on the team besides Mookie, The Red Devils are STILL in the race for yet ANOTHER Federation title, and on top of all that, The Peekskill Red Devils are STILL UNDEFEATED! (25-0)......you do the math from here..
Iona Prep was up 34-21 at the Half, BUT lost 71-64… While Peekskill Destroys Another Team by 50!! This is getting kinda ridiculous…..AND I LOVE IT!!! ;^)
Iona Power, Iona Prep has a lot to be proud of. They arrived a year early and made it to the Finals instead of bowing out in an earlier round. The experience of a championship game will pay off in the long run for so many of these sophmores.
peeky914…
i respect the peekskill program and they have a nice team, but the schedule they played this year was a joke and sec 1 a is so weak! peekskill is the only good team.
jimbo…
i know iona is young but take another look at that bford roster b/c they are just as young and there freshmen team won the city championship and their j.v. lost in the city championship…they have much more young talent then iona and mount is right up there along with stepinac having some young talent on the rise.
congrats to bford…it’s amazing how much can happen in 1 minute of basketball and how the game can completely change!
Yeah, I heard Ford’s loading up getting kids. It’s pretty much the same teams in the Final 4 in each respective league. Mount’s made the Final 4 4 out of the last 5 years. Like I said before there seems to be 2 levels within each level in the CHSAA AA, A amd B. Schools that go out and get kids go further in the playoffs and schools like Fordham and Spellman do not do it as much if not at all. There should be more one more level. It should be AAA, AA, A and B. AAA would be the top schools. AA would be the teams getting beat up -St.Francis Prep, All Hallows and anyone else in that top level along with Iona, Mount, Hayes, Stepinac, Ford, Xavier, St.Peters, and one more school from S.I. along with a few other schools. A and B would consist of everyone who is left. It would be more fair than what it is already. It would give Fordham and Spellman a chance at a title instead of one and done. I would like to know how many points the top A teams beat the bottom A teams by this year. I guess I can look that up. I’m just trying to avoid blowouts over 15 points and create an even playing field. Every league out there should look at this every year. Good luck to Ford. The road only gets tougher.
great season for Iona. Congratulations. Bishop Ford is a very good team – I’d like to see Chaz Williams against Brickhouse, that would be a fun matchup. Iona should be very, very good next year. I saw they Stepinac/Bishop Ford game and I thought the championship would be an excellent game. Its true Bishop Ford has a lot of talent coming back as well, along with Mount. Good luck to Bishop Ford in the state catholic playoffs.
Jimbo-
It is true that Iona Prep had a good season (22-5) with a team full of Sophomores and Juniors. Even so I left last nights game sick to my stomach about the opportunity that got away and I still feel sick this morning.
Several factors changed a game that went from a easy championship game to a tough head scratching loss. The Ford coach inserted a senior #3 Don Marbury at PG and moved Williams to the off guard. It took the pressure off Williams and all he did was shoot. Don Marbury hardly played against Stepinac. Also Ford switched to a zone in the second half which gave Iona trouble. Andre Pope getting into foul trouble prevented him from having the monster game that he was on his way to having. This forced the Iona coach to play 3 bench players who did not play in the first half at the end of the 3rd quarter. This changed the entire game. Iona also did not get the ball enough to Brian Voelkell. Ford could not handle him.
I expect Iona to be very good next year but there are no guarantees that they even get back to the championship game. Ford has loaded Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior classes. Mount has 3 Juniors and a loaded sophomore class coming back and Stepinac also had a great frosh class. Iona had a great class of Freshman on the football side but only an average class in basketball.
sorry to see iona lose.i see no merit in peeky’s gloating.we all know P is very very good.bball BF JV lost to mount’s JV for city A crown.also mount losses only one starter.next year you have maybe 4 top teams.iona,BF,hayes and mount.plus you have sleepers we do not even know about.should be very interesting. jimbo i like your idea about combining top A teams.this is a vert interesting blog,lets keep it that way.
If Peeky914 was responding to a comment that was made a month ago and if that comment was true that Iona Prep would beat Peekskill in the federation if Peekskill made it that far then he has every right to write what he wrote. You Iona Prep fans can’t dish it out all of the time and get mad when it gets dished back to you. I saw all the stuff you guys wrote when Iona Prep was on a run last month. If I can remember some Iona fans were counting a championship next year. I remember how Iona was going to be better than Peekskill when Mookie left. Iona fans are the biggst babies in HS basketball. Now you are knocked out this year and next year other teams in your bracket will be as good or better than you. Now bball says that sect 1a is so weak. Isn’t this what has been discussed on a prior blog. You guys are so arragant. The bottom line is Iona Prep would not get within 25 points of Peekskill right now.
peekskill 112, if you are replying to my e mail you are wrong about iona fan.i am a mount fan and have been for over 60 years.all i am saying is we can write e mails with out gloating.you are probally right that P could beat iona.to all who are on this blog lets all be nice to each other and let the teams play.good luck to P in states.also i think mount will be right there next year.hope the powers to be invite them to slam dunk.
iona power:
not sure what you mean by iona playing 3 bench players in the 3rd…i think a big reason why they had a successful season is because of their bench play and how deep they can go! or maybe i just misunderstood the comment – not trying to debate.
ps bfords best shooter didn’t play last night – was on the bench – rumor was that he was on academic probation.
Iona Power
fan is right
allyear it was aboout ionas depth, 10 deep very balanced, everyone contributes, everyone can defend. Now they lose and they had “bench players” in the game? did these “bench players” not contribute in the wins during the winning streak?
a little convienient..on another note, its ok to get caught up in your teams, alot of fans do and say silly things and make ridiculous comparisons. i think once you start making the comparisons to PeeK and MV its a sign that emotion has surpassed common sense.
fan
What I was saying was that at the end of the 3rd quarter 2 players who had not played the entire game were inserted into the game and committed some errors that led to the momentum change- Both players during the year played less than 10 minutes a game. It was tough for them to come into the fire after sitting on the bench until that point in the game.
please explain
I hope you are not referring to me making comments about Iona being better than MV or Peekskill because then you need to get your facts straight. I have never made those types of comparisions.
bball…You talk about PHS schedule being so weak. But you forget to mention your schedule..Fordham Prep x2 6-18, Regis x2
9-14, McClancey5-7, Spellman x27-9, Spring Valley11-11. Xavier @ 8-14. And by the way you got crushed by New Rochelle who lost twice to Poughkeepsie who lost twice to Peekskill. And you lost to Newburgh who lost to White Plains who lost to Peekskill. You also lost to Cardinal Hayes who lost to Peekskill. So where is your tough schedule. Granted you had a good season….BUT WHO DID YOU BEAT ?Iona beat Bishop Ford. If Ford makes it to GLen Falls watch out. Ford is not Oneonta as you will see in a real hurry.
chsaa
I hope you’re right. But I’m sure PHS still wins by atleast 20.
I will be rooting for Peekskill should they play against Bishop Ford because if it is not Stepinac or Iona I will always be rooting for the Westchester School…Last night when Ford took its 1st lead against Iona with under 3 minutes to go in the game, the chant from the other side of the gym was “Brooklyn”, “Brooklyn”.....Fair enough, but it surew did not make me feel very good….I root for teams, not leagues…Westchester/Rockland/Bronx in that order for me…Just pointing out that Ford v Peekskill, should it happen would be a great game….Brickhouse v Chazz Williams would be something special…But Mookie would be the difference…..But no way would it be 20 point game…
Iona Power
“This forced the Iona coach to play 3 bench players who did not play in the first half at the end of the 3rd quarter. This changed the entire game.”
Your comments are generally positive and on point. However, despite the feeling in your stomach please step back and realize that this was not a good comment. I’m sure those players dont consider themselves “Bench Players” and I know for a fact that their contributions over the 16 game win streak were a huge part. This wasnt the first time foul trouble was a factor. Getting outscored 50-30 in the second half has many more implications including adjustments and overall team play.
chsaa: “the chant from the other side of the gym was “Brooklynâ€, “Brooklynâ€.....Fair enough, but it surew did not make me feel very good…”
dear chsaa,
It made me feel very good hearing the chant. I don’t know if it’s just me who realized this but Ford did have to play at Iona Prep in Iona College for a city title. I would bet even money that half of the Iona fans could have walked to the complex if it wasn’t for the pouring rain. Iona fans did outnumber Ford fans by about 13 to 1. On one side of the gym there were about three Ford fans as opposed to the 1500. For Iona to blow a one in a lifetime homecourt advantage for a city title is purely mindboggling. Ford won, so they deserved to make the place a little like Brooklyn last night.
please explain
The players I referred to were players that came off the bench and were generally the 8th and 9th players in the rotation. During the playoffs most coaches shorten the bench as the Iona coach did during the semifinals. My comments did not intend to denigrate the players. I stated that the players were put in a tough spot not playing for almost 3 quarters and then being put in a difficult spot at that point in the game.
The entire Iona team from the 1st player to the last player on the bench had a great season and did the school proud!!
Iona Power
Thats better
Just a correction. Mount was in the finals the last 3 yrs. not 4. The previous 8 they never got beyond the semis.
Spellman has good young players and Fordham will be better. The league is fine the way it is. Any team that feels it cannot compete can go to the “B”.
The game last night was a good showcase for the league. There are many fine young players coming along. Any team that assumes it will be there next year may be surprised.
It is really hard with 15 teams in the league.
IONA POWER…
OK UNDERSTOOD.
HORNBLOWER…WELL SAID.
THER ARE 14 TEAMS THOUGH (NOT 15):
NORTH:
MOUNT
IONA
STEPINAC
HAYES
FORDHAM
SPELLMAN
REGIS
SOUTH:
BFORD
XAVIER
ST.EDMUND’S
LASALLE
ST. JOHN’S
MCLANCY
NAZARETH
MOUNT / HAYES HAVE BEEN DOMINANT THE PAST LIKE 4 YEARS NOT ONLY AT THE VARSITY BUT THE LOWER LEVELS…A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THEIR MUCH LARGER ENROLLMENT THEN A LOT OF THE OTHER SCHOOLS IN THE “A”...BUT AS HORNBLOWER STATED THERE IS MUCH PARITY AND NOONE IS COUNTED BACK TO THE FINALS NEXT YEAR…..AND ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT THE #2 & #3 SEEDS FROM SI CROSSOVER IN THE PLAY-OFFS…SO YOU NEVER KNOW, WHICH MAKES FOR A GREAT COMPETITIVE TOURNAMENT!
did anybody mention the 10$ admission fee what a joke!
fan
I agree The CHSAA A will be wide open- Ford, Hayes, Mount, Stepinac and Iona all can make a case to be the favorite-
Here is an interesting question to pose?
What CHSAA A program is the most aggressive in trying to get student athletes into their programs?
When I looked at the Bishop Ford roster I could not help but notice that Chaz Williams plus 2 other Juniors were all from Brownsville. I wonder if they came all together in a package deal.
Hornblower, maybe you are right that everything’s fine in the A for the most part. The scores In the A are closer than some of these scores I see in AA. St. Francis Prep, All Hallows got murdered this year. I know All Hallows is going through some tough times so hopefully they will bounce back. Just looking out for everyone. Anyone get the score of Buffalo St.Joseph’s and Long Island Chsaa A today? Ford gets the winner.
Chaminade won. They will play Ford next Sunday.
If you include the SI teams ceded into the playoffs, that is 16 teams.
dear chsaa, the article i read in JN said fans were chanting overrated overrated when CHAZ W had a no show for first half.game is over and BF start chanting brooklyn etc etc.so what,use it has fuel for next year. dear iona power,why even mention if 3 players from brownsville came on a package deal.god bless BF FOR HELPING 3 PEOPLE.if you ever want to see the real world go to the homes of some of these chsaa players from NYC.i think the A league puts more on geting player to college and not only on BB.
Not the right time for a few things today. The first thing are the Peekskill fans coming on and ripping Iona saying they would win by 25. Hayes had half the talent as Peekskill last year and even less this year and almost managed to beat Peekskill twice. Peekskill fans were baffled but they do not about Coach Murray’s program. People do not know that he coached in some of the biggest games in Chsaa history in the ‘70s and ‘80s wth less talent than all the other schools. Iona – Peekskill would be a closer game. Peekskill fans have that blowout mentality because that’s what their team does all year to their opponents. Please do not fault them for that feeling. They are only human and could have waited a few days to rub it in. The one person who does not think blowout all the time is the most important person which is Coach P. He knows how good the teams will be come Federation time. The Federation will be really good this year and good luck to Peekskill. Iona Power, coming on and bringing up how players made it to Ford is not right. Iona became more aggressive when Stepinac became aggressive with Boldin and Taylor along with some other players. Just because one school does it more than other schools does not make it right. Just not the right time to bring up Ford’s recruiting habits after there was a clear shot at the title last night. I understand where you want to take the argument to but not the right time when Iona’s out getting kids too. 4 years of high school basketball should not be the most important years of a young kid’s life but only stepping stones for only better things to come. Will that week off for Easter help or hurt teams playing in the Fed. tournament? Have a good night and may all these young kids that entertain us get to college.
Jimbo-
The question that I brought up was who are the most aggressive schools in bringing in players. The point being is that there seems to be a big separation between the likes of Ford, Iona, Stepinac, Mount to the likes of McClancy, St. Edmunds, and Fordham- I do see the problem in exploring a topic that comes with much debate and speculation.
Volo
First of all don’t question whether I live in the real world. I ahve lived in the West End of New Rochelle off of Union Avenue all my life- Maybe when you come in from Florida you can take a drive through the area. That has always been aproblem with you people form the mOunt that you have this perception that people from Iona are all wealthy. Take a look at the roster in Football and Basketball and you will see most of the players are from the big cities in Westchester. I also never stated that I had a problem with three kids coming into Ford. I wish your football coach would stop having a problem with the kids leaving the Bronx/ Mt.Vernon area to go to Iona and playing football.
Only when they are recruited and paid for.
looking at Iona’s sophomore class (and taking into account Mason who left this year) it would be hard to make an argument about another school in the A being more aggressive bringing in players. I think its fairly ridiculous to look at Bishop Ford’s roster and with no background information make a statement questioning if three players from Brownsville came to Ford in some sort of a package deal. Making completely baseless comments is what turnss blogs negative.
Any Peekskill fans who are saying they would beat Iona or Ford by 25 points obviously hasn’t seen either team. I think Peekskill would certainly be the favorite and I would expect a competitive game. Considering the trouble Peekskill has had with Stepinac and Hayes the last two years, it would be foolish to underestimate the CHSAA A team in the Federations – I’m sure coach Panzanaro isn’t making that mistake.
Holy Cross wins the AA Championship. It’s nice to see a different team win it.
hoops fan:
i think iona’s soph class wasn’t recruited and just walked through the doors voluntarily b/c iona is the best school ever at everything! they should actually just discontinue all high schools everywhere in westchester and just have iona as the only school – why would a kid want to go anywhere else!
ps – relax everyone just being sarcastic
iona power:
let’s not start talking about “package deals” PLEASE let’s not start talking about “package deals”
GOOD LUCK PEEKSKILL THE REST OF THE WAY
WATCH OUT FOR CHAMINADE!
Is LuHi going as the Independent rep from Long Island this year? I think they played Mount Vernon and St. Anthony’s of Jersey City . They might even be better than last year’s team. They really throw up the 3’s.
The Iona coach had a bad game and had no answers for the Fords coaches adjustments. Period the end.
iona prep will beat mt. vernon next year
Jimbo, Hoops Fan , and CHSAA Fans,
I do not like when fans say they will beat other teams by 25. Here is a January 19th blog from one of the Iona Prep fans, just one of many. When you get on Peekskill fans who are responding to previous quotes, and don’t get on your own fans, that is very hypocritical. I do not know who Wersd is, but here we go again. Anyway here it is, word for word.
Wait a Second
section1 league a,
Thanks for the suggestion. The problem is that next year Iona will wallop all of your suggested opponents Mt Vernon or Peekskill. There is no doubt about that because I know all the pertinent players. Iona will be too heavy for Peekskill minus Mookie and MV minus Kevin. No need to argue here. Just watch and learn. Iona will rule next year
jayden:
i agree with you 100%. please do not let the arrogance of one school reflect the entire chsaa as a whole. i am sure the coach’s do not think that way. stepinac played peekskill in 2005 (lost by like 25) and last year in the slam dunk stepinac won by like 2 or 3. noone was rubbing it in or gloating (maybe melquan!)- the chsaa has a ton of respect for peekskill and mt. vernon!
some of the comments that iona fans make like… they will beat mt. vernon next year is obnoxious, considering iona has been a 500 team the past 2 years. they have a strong soph class and now all of a sudden they can beat a nationally ranked progran – c’mon now!
and to the iona fan who made the comment about beating mt. vernon next year…...how about moving up to the chsaa”aa” if you are that good?
Chsaa fan,
Thanks for your fairness.
I love when fans talk about adjustments. Watching too much tv and listening to sports talk radio.
chsaa fan,
I am from NYC. Most of my friends live in NYC. All of my friends are either referees, parents of kids in HS basketball, (mostly in the CHSAA AA), or fans like me, that just like HS basketball, (mostly the CHSAA AA games). The CHSAA AA has the most respectable fans and players in basketball. To a person, all of them know that the chsaa has an advantage over public schools. They do not try to sugar coat it as some in Westchester do. The players get a better opportunity to travel, get exposure, and are able to be in a better learning environoment then they would have in public schools. They are fortunate for that, and would never say anything negative about public schools and their leagues.
When my friends from Rice came back from Hawaii, they talked about how nice the weather was, and how good a time they had. They never even mentioned the Mt Vernon, Rice game. It was the Westchester CHSAA A fans that have talked about it since December, and used it as some sort of taunt against Mt Vernon fans.
This is the age of the internet, so a lot of the people I know from NYC read what is written on this blog, mostly to see what the heck I am writing about. Quite frankly, none of them are too familiar with the chsaa teams up here, but they are amazed at the negative things coming from the chsaa a fans.
I hope that we as basketball fans can enjoy our sport, our leagues, and the teams we like, without having other team’s fans boast superiority, compare leagues, count D1 players, and downplay the schedule and strengh of other leagues. The NYC CHSAA AA fans have more respect for Sect 1 teams then the Westchester CHSAA A fans do, and hate when they are thrown into a comparison. If any league can get up on a soap box and boast, it’s the CHSAA AA, but they want no part of that. We are all Westchecter residents (Rockland), and should support our county teams, no matter what league they play in.
jayden everything you said i agree with. and again don’t let a couple of arrogant
(i think you know what chsaa “a” school i am reffering to) or bloggers reflect any level of the chsaa as a unit. you think the majority of the chsaa “a” level coach’s / fans / players sit around and compare and contrast what league is better and so on and so forth – c’mon. there are plenty of jack ass bloggers that come on here and knock the chsaa and praise section 1…does that mean that is what section 1 represents – no! keep things in perspective to what you are reading on these blogs and where it is potentially coming from. and ps i know of people from rice that came back and said that they “smacked mt. vernon” and yes they talked about the game and not how nice the weather was…does that comment represent rice or does it represent an immature 16yr old kid. and don’t start putting the chsaa “aa” fans on some pedestal – the most respectable fans – don’t know about that….actually i don’t know what league has the most respectable fans (maybe the leagues where they don’t let them in) b/c they all usually bad mouth the reff, coach..etc…but that’s life.
i have said before i love watching mt. vernon play and love their program. and now that rice/ raymonds/ loughlin are out they have even a better chance of taking it – hopefully they do – it’s going to be fun – march madness….
memphis is taking it!!!!!
chsaa fan,
My comments are for the few over the last two years that went way overboard with their blogging. I find you and Iona Power to be fair and honest. There are bad comments an all sides, but you have to understand that I have personally been a target of the stuff written for the past 2 years. It’s tough to see very smart basketball minds be so one sided on this issue. I hope that this is the last time I have to talk about this, and do not plan to unless the issue is unfairly brought up again.
I am a great fan of Memphis. Bad foul shooting, but great team. Hopefully their foul shooting won’t get them in trouble in a tight game.
jayden:
agreed…as you are, i am a fan of both and all leagues and wish the best for the student-athletes. i am actually a duke / g’town fan but i don’t know if anyone is going to beat memphis – to much offense!
chsaa fan,
Memphis is going to blow a couple of foul shots from the line late. They are a good team, but in the NCAA tournament there is no room for error. 50% from the line is a big problem in a tight game.
Jayden-
Good to see Mt. Vernon ready for a good Bishop MCguinn team. According to Scouts.com their sophomore guard is one of the best young players in the State. But I am sure he has not seen a team as quick as Mt. Vernon.
I think Boys and Girls vs Lincoln can be interesting. I think Mt. Vernon/Lincoln/Boys/Girls winner will take care of Holy Cross.
Good Luck to the Knights!!!
Iona Power,
Biship Maginn is an extremely good team. Yes, their Sophomore guard is very good, and Mt Vernon will have their hands full. No Question. If any Mt Vernon fan is counting this as a win, they may be shocked as to how good Bishop Maginn is. Actually just like the single A game, the two best teams in AA are meeting in the semifinals.
As for Holy Cross, they beat Rice, and Christ the King, and are peaking right now. I actually think they are the favorites to win the Federation, based on how they are playing at this point in the season. More importantly, the CHSAA AA has the bye this year. It is even tough for NBA teams to win in back to back games when the other team did not play a back to back game. If anyone believes that a team that beat Rice, and Christ the King is not a great team, they are nuts. I was not a Sylven Landesberg fan, but he has made me eat crow all year long.