Here is my story on Stepinac’s 78-56 loss in the CHSAA AA semifinals to Bishop Loughlin.
NEW YORK Underdogs can’t afford a slow start.
So as Stepinac struggled to shoot the ball at the beginning of the CHSAA AA semifinal game against Bishop Loughlin, hopes of the Crusaders going to their first AA final quickly began to fade.
“I think they came out and gave us the first punch and we didn’t really know how to react to it,” said Stepinac senior Josh James. “The whole game we were just falling behind and we just trailed the whole game.”
The Lions cruised to a 78-56 win at Fordham University as Stepinac had no answer for Loughlin’s fast pace. The Lions will face the winner of Christ the King and Cardinal Hayes in the AA final at Fordham Sunday at 3 p.m.
Stepinac was just 6 of 32 from the field in the first half, including 2 of 16 3-point attempts, as Loughlin jumped out to a 49-25 haltime lead.
Any type of run the Crusaders were able to build was stifled by the Lions’ ability to get the ball up the court quickly. The Lions beat Stepinac earlier this season, 83-70.
“Their transition offense is probably the best I’ve seen all year,” James said. “It’s really hard to stop. We just tried to contain, but they’re a little too much for us.”
James was one of the lone bright spots for Stepinac. Playing in his final game as a Crusader, the Monmouth-bound guard finished with a game-high 34 points and eight rebounds.
“He was consistent which is what I asked him,” said Stepinac coach Tim Philp. “Just be a leader on and off the court. Win every sprint, don’t ever quit and challenge your teammates every day.”
James is part of what Philp considers a special group of seniors that helped Stepinac to one of its most successful seasons in program history. Stepinac’s last appearance in the semifinals of the highest level of the CHSAA came in 1986
James Decker also had a strong performance in his final game. The forward had eight rebounds and five steals.
“One thing I can control is working hard for rebounds,” Decker said. “You can always control working hard and getting loose ball rebounds.”
Loughlin had no defined star as four players scored in double-digits. Michael Williams led the Lions with 17 points and nine rebounds.
For James, who played the entire game, a strong performance was a nice way to put a cap on a successful career at Stepinac.
“I just wanted to go out with a bang,” James said. “Whether we win or lose, I just wanted to fight hard every game and help my teammates win. Tonight I couldn’t, so I just wanted to go out with a bang for my last high school game.”
23 Comments
YOU CAN’T BRING A WATER PISTAL TO A GUN FIGHT
JOSH JAMES YOU AND DECKER WENT OUT FIGHTING GREAT CAREERS
Congrats bishop!...
Last team standing in WESTCHESTR # NEW RO… #AGAIN!!.. The best sports high school in WESTCHESTER!!... Public or private!!!...
Naim, come home and take us to the promised land!!!
Prince, now with Young coaching bball, look for more section titles!!!! Hopefully… That cimino guy pretty good…
PPR, your team would lose by 15 or 20 easily to Step . Please be real !
i just struggle with comparing New Ro to stepinac. New Ro had an excellent run, great buzzer beater win on a 3/4 court shot, and deserves to feel great about their season. But Stepinac is better than New Rochelle hands down.
Nee ro wins the state title in football and all the chsfl fanz talk about Iona…
New ro defeats one of the best programs in HS bball and now step can beat them…
When does the madness ever end??????
Just,
Your missing one key point…Step DID beat New Ro convincingly at the Slam Dunk in December!
Josh and Dan did a good job summing it up. Stepinac came out ice cold, while Loughlin came out hot. Carrington and DelaCruz both hit two first qtr threes. When your team can’t buy a bucket and the other team can’t seem to miss it usually spells a rough day. Josh James played great as usual for Stepinac.
Stepinac had a great season. Addition to the seniors who played very well all season, Naim Thomas, Walter King, Demarcus Miller and Boz Bernstein all played very well this year and should be even better next year.
I was wowed by how strong and athletic Josh James has become. Loughlin had no answer for him which says a lot. He was a man playing against boys except those boys are D1 boys. It’s no exaggeration to say he could start at Monmouth next year.
Crusaders,
I agree, Josh James’ game has really improved a lot over the past couple seasons. I think he probably will start next year at Monmouth. I’m sure he’s happy with Monmouth, but it would be interesting to see what kind of offers he’d be getting now if he was still uncommitted. He is really a player.
If Loughlin shoots like they did yesterday, I think they have a good chance to winning on Sunday. But as we all know, not every team shoots well every game. Stepinac as a team shot very well on Sunday in the QFs against St Rays and everyone but Josh did not have a good shooting day yesterday.
The problem hoops is that Loughlin has almost everybody coming back next year. Probably top 20 nationally next year. Good luck with that. Plus stepinac probably won’t even be the best CHSAA team in westchester next year.
Cuse
Playing in the CHSAA AA is whole different game now for Stepinac and Iona- Programs like CTK, Loughlin, Hayes , St. raymonds and Molloy have better and most importantly deeper talent bases than the local CHSAA teams – Last year Mount had a great year making the semifinals but this year they did not get out of the first round- These other power programs just reload- I know for a fact that Hayes has 3 big time freshmen in their program that did not play varsity- If they are at Iona or Stepinac they would have been already up on the varsity- That is the difference- Now I do think Iona with a very young team playing 2 sophs and a frosh big minutes will help next year but even with those players back getting through past the Quarterfinals will be tough- The league is the real deal.
IonaPower
The CHSAA is a good league, used to be the best around until Jersey started taking some of the city players. Now the best teams are over there. I also think the PSAL has caught up. Just the Brooklyn league is brutal. The CHSAA should be that good however, especially the city ones because they are offering them the chance to get out of their public schools, which in most instances are not very good.
Hoops,
While I agree Stepinac is better this year at hoops than New Ro, 60-50 is a solid win but not a trouncing that would indicate the teams are on vastly different levels.
I am sure you will say the score was not indicative of the disparity and I will point out 3 major contributors weren’t quite in basketball form at that time.
That is not an excuse, it is a statement of fact. I do think Step is a better basketball team this year than New Ro but the two teams currently are competitive. IMO
Cuse
Brooklyn PSAL is top quality but that is really the only league from the PSAL- Cardozo was down this year from Queens- After Wings you have little left in the Bronx- I do agree that St. Anthony and St. Benedicts from NJ are of the highest level.
Great year for Stepinac! Correct me if I am wrong but New Ro is boasting about beating an MV team that was severely down this year and does not have one D1 senior on the team correct?
Love the New Ro story but don’t let luck become confused with reality!
Beast, the reality is that they are still playing. They still have a shot.
Cuse,
Not sure who will be the best team in Westchester next year. If either Iona or Stepinac makes the QFs next year it will be considered a very good accomplishment. Based on all that Loughlin, Hayes, St Rays, CTK and Molloy have coming back next year the CHSAA will be loaded as usual next year. Holy Cross and Xaverian were young this year too. Mount is always solid.
Beast,
YOu can’t help but feel good for New Ro winning on a 60 footer. I agree that MV was not a typical MV team this year so its not like beating a Jabarie Hinds or Jonathan Mitchell led MV team, but they’re still MV, so its a pretty good win nonetheless.
What some dont realize is that stepinac was not only final 4 in the highest level of the catholic league in the city, but the entire new york state. Whoever wins loughlin / ctk game is the new york city and state catholic h.s. aa champs. Their playoffs includes westchester, bronx, manhattan, brooklyn, queens, staten island.
Stepinac making it to the final four was a huge accomplishment.
Their body of work this year speaks for itself:
Wins against teams like iona 2x, fordham 2x, mount, xaverian, molloy, burke catholic, st peters, scanlan
Holy cross2x, st rays2x (cross who were the returning brooklyn queens diocese champs and st rays the returning city/ state champs)
Slam dunk champs beating new rochelle and mahopac
Chsaa 1st team player, coach of the year, coned award winner, 1000 point scorer, player selected to the jordan regional game, and only signed division 1 bball player in the county (boys)
FYI is right. I’m a Mount Vernon Dude and have seen our program gain acclaim for doin’ what we do, but Stepinac did their thing this year.
I saw them play twice (vs Iona & St. Ray’s) and did not think they were a good team (on paper). Both times they dismantled their opponent in lop-sided home victories.
They deserve big props for accomplishing what they did in what many call the best Catholic hS League in the Country. Not bad for a school from Westchester.
[...] Loughin in tonight’s CHSAA semifinals in a game that wasn’t very close from the outset. As Dan has already chronicled, the Crusaders started 6 for 32 from the field and 2 for 16 from 3-point land. Very quickly, it was [...]