Sports

Dingle, St. Ray’s escape St. Francis Prep

The game was a shootout. St. Raymond and St. Francis Prep combined for 168 points and the Terriers notched their highest total of the year.

But, to St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua, the game turned on a defensive adjustment. He put long, powerful forward Daniel Dingle on SFP’s Khallid Straker in the second half after Straker killed the Ravens before halftime and the Terriers held a one-point lead.

“He had a huge first half,” Antigua said of Straker. “He was scoring almost at will. We needed to put a bigger body on him.”

The 6-foot-6 Dingle held the 6-foot-2 Straker to just six of his 24 points in the second half and St. Ray’s made all the big plays down the stretch in an 88-80 win Tuesday night in Fresh Meadows in CHSAA Class AA boys basketball.

“I had to not let him get the ball,” Dingle said. “He was having a big game. I had to get him out of the game.”

Dingle wasn’t too shabby on the other side of the court either. The sophomore had 14 of his 22 points in the second half and he and 6-foot-4 sophomore Kerwin Okoro completely dominated the boards against much smaller St. Francis Prep (10-9, 0-8 B/Q).

“We have to get a lot of rebounds for us to stay in the game,” Dingle said.

Okoro had some trouble staying in the game for St. Ray’s (7-7, 5-3 NY) in the third quarter. He was completely dominating Prep with 19 points when he picked up a third foul with 5:51 left in the frame. The Terriers promptly went on a 13-4 run to turn a 48-45 deficit into a 58-52 lead after a George Hatzioannides basket with 2:03 left in the third. Hatzioannides had 12 points in the run, including a pair of 3-point plays.

“It was frustrating,” Okoro said. “Every time I was out of the game, they came back up.”

The Ravens put together a quick, 9-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to take a 63-60 lead on a Devin Brooks basket with 6:32 left in the game. St. Francis tied it up twice more and was within 84-80 after a pair of George Wlazlo free throws with 30 seconds left, but St. Ray’s made 12-of-18 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Terriers.

“Prep fought hard,” Antigua said. “They didn’t give up.”

Five players finished in double figures for St. Raymond: Dingle, Okoro (20), Brooks (15), Lawrence Graves (11) and Jatton Pierce-Bias (10). Hatzioannides had 23 points and Michael Murray added 16 for St. Francis Prep, which is still searching for its first league victory since the 2007-08 season.

St. Ray’s, on the other hand, has now won two straight after snapping a four-game losing streak against St. Peter’s on Sunday. This victory, as Okoro noted, gets the squad back to .500 overall. The Ravens visit Xaverian on Friday night and won’t see the friendly confines of their home court until Feb. 9 when they host Archbishop Molloy.

“We’re getting comfortable on the road,” Antigua said.

For a young team, maybe that’s not a bad thing.

mraimondi@nypost.com