As I reported a week ago today, CHSAA basketball coaches voted to move Iona Prep into the AA division last week. I’ll have more on that in a bit.
First is this: The Gaels may be forced to move up in division without their top returning player. That’s because sophomore guard Isiah Ice is likely transferring to a school in New Jersey, according to information from several sources. Ice’s family is moving to Hoboken.
Ice’s absence would prove difficult to overcome for Iona Prep — at least in the short term. He’s the only returning starter from the CHSAA “A” city and state champ. The Gaels would already face a challenge competing in the revamped AA division even with him.
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Now, below is a look at the new power rankings. There are two big changes this season.
1. With Iona Prep up in the AA, All Hallows was voted to move down to the A. Longtime coach John Carey was furious about the demotion. The school has been a mainstay in the AA division and is still pushing to remain there.
Salesian and Nazareth were both promoted as well. They will move from the B division to the A. Moore Catholic will join Iona Prep in moving from the A to the AA. Monsignor Farrell will drop to the A.
2. Teams in the Archdiocesan will now play 18 league games, meaning at least one against every team. Last year, for example, teams only crossed over with two teams from the other division. Top-ranked St. Ray’s and Cardinal Hayes from the New York Archdiocesan played top-ranked Christ the King and Bishop Loughlin. Now, every team will play each CHSAA team outside of its division once.
(The Brooklyn/Queens teams will not play the Staten Island teams, so they will play 16 league games apiece.)
Anyway, here’s a look at the power rankings for the 2012-13 season:
Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan
1. Christ the King
2. Bishop Loughlin
3. Holy Cross
4. Archbishop Molloy
5. Xaverian
6. St. Francis Prep
7. Bishop Ford
8. St Edmund
9. Nazareth
10. Monsignor McClancy
11. St. John’s Prep
12. Cathedral Prep
New York Archdiocesan
1 . St. Ray’s
2. Cardinal Hayes
3. Mount St. Michael
4. Stepinac
5. Iona Prep
6. Fordham Prep
7. All Hallows
8. Xavier
9. Cardinal Spellman
10. Regis
11. LaSalle
12. Salesian
13. St. Agnes
14. Sacred Heart
15. Blessed Sacrament
16. Monsignor Scanlan
Staten Island
1. St. Peter’s
2. Moore Catholic
3. Monsignor Farrell
4. St. Joe’s by the Sea
Here are the divisions:
Class AA
Brooklyn/Queens — Christ the King, Bishop Loughlin, Holy Cross, Archbisohp Molloy, Xaverian, St. Francis Prep
New York — St. Ray’s, Cardinal Hayes, Mount St. Michael, Stepinac, Iona Prep, Fordham Prep
Staten Island: St. Peter’s, Moore Catholic
Class A
Brooklyn/Queens — Bishop Ford, St. Edmund, Nazareth, Monsignor McClancy, St. John’s Prep
New York — All Hallows, Xavier, Cardinal Spellman, Regis, LaSalle, Salesian
Staten Island: Monsignor Farrell, St. Joseph’s by the Sea
Class B
Brooklyn/Queens — Cathedral Prep
New York — St. Agnes, Sacred Heart, Blessed Sacrament, Monsignor Scanlan
9 Comments
Looking forward to the Stepinac team for next year! Been hearing good things!
League is a mess right now.
It doesn’t make much sense to me that All Hallows gets dropped while Fordham Prep stays up in AA. I understand the input from the JV and Frosh levels, but at the end of the day this is a varsity league…the results from the Varsity teams should weigh far more heavily. Fordham had only 1 AA win this year.
If Ice in fact transfers, which would be a very tough loss for Iona’s program, I can’t imagine Iona being too competitive next year in the AA. All Hallows brings back 2-3 good guards from last year I believe. It would be a shame is All Hallows is stuck in A next year with Iona and Fordham winless (besides against eachother) in the AA.
The more I look at who has what coming back next year, Stepinac could be in a good position to compete in the top half of the league. Mount loses a lot. Hayes and St Rays both lose a lot, but also bring back a lot of talent. On the B/Q side, Christ the King and Loughlin should be loaded. Molloy brings back some talent. Holy Cross and Xaverian lose a lot. I’m not sure about SFP, but I don’t see them contending.
Hoops Fan – good points. Rumor has it the meeting was ugly.
By the way the name Isaiah Ice is awesome!
ice , ice, baby (beat) isiah ice, ice, baby (beat)
alright stop, collaborate and listen, ice is back with a brand new invention…..
he’s not going anywhere.
Iona Prep is better than Stepinac by far!
The Final Word,
This is a basketball post…you must be joking
Iona perp…get ready to get busted up…cant wait till loughlin comes in and crushez yall..also all hallows frosh and jv are horrible..i mean horrible..fordham jv was very good..plus NOBODY wants to play in that cyo gym at all hallows..please coach carey..u are an A team..in cyo gym..