The key to Bishop Ford’s offense is Josh Blagrove. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound forward is multi-talented – not to mention a load down low.
“He’s a tough matchup,” Falcons coach Denis Nolan.
His teammates haven’t always gotten him the ball on a consistent basis this year, though. Until Friday.
Blagrove had 27 points to lead Ford to a huge 56-55 win over Xavier in CHSAA Class A boys basketball in Park Slope. The Knights are an ‘A’ title contender, so this marks the Falcons’ biggest win of the season by far. Anthony Butler added 13 points for Ford (3-6, 1-0 ‘A’).
“We played a tough non-league schedule, but maybe it paid off,” Nolan said. “The kids worked at getting the ball to Josh. I hope we grow from it.”
Ford lost five straight before beating Blessed Sacrament on Wednesday.
Tito Ovalle had 13 points, Brendan Ferguson had 11 points and Matt Crockett added 10 for Xavier (5-4, 2-3), which was coming off league losses to Monsignor McClancy and Moore Catholic this week. The Knights host St. Edmund on Jan. 4.
Moore Catholic 61, St. Joseph by the Sea 42: Frankie Schettino had 14 points, Mark Fiorello had 11 points and John Baggs added 10 for Moore (11-0, 4-0), which adds to its best start in program history. Tom DiSanto led Sea (3-5, 0-3) with 11 points.
PSAL CLASS AA
Thomas Jefferson 78, George Westinghouse 56: Jaquan Lynch sank five 3-pointers and scored 23 points, Jermoine Faison had 14 points and seven rebounds, Patrick Brown added 11 points and Jalen Evans had 10 points and four assists for Jefferson (9-4, 5-1), which broke the game open with a 26-11 second quarter, in Brooklyn AA. Westinghouse is 0-6.
Curtis 73, CSI/McCown 53: DaShawn Richmond scored 18 points, Kevin McIntosh had 15 and Dontay Jackson had 13 for undefeated Curtis (9-0, 6-0) in Staten Island AA. Debonair Edwards followed with 12 points and Hassan Martin had 11 for the Warriors. Quamaine Tomlin paced CSI/McCown (7-2, 4-2) with 22 points.
New Dorp 64, Petrides 57: Michael Arubuola pumped in 28 points and Mateusz Wybraniec had 13 for New Dorp (5-7, 3-4) in Staten Island AA. Elijah Bryant led Petrides (3-10, 1-6) with 25 points.
Susan Wagner 56, Port Richmond 39: James Bertucci scored 17 points and Enijah Patterson and Engjell Zuma had eight apiece for Wagner (4-8, 3-4) in Staten Island A. Odirachukw Onwyka posted 13 points for winless Port Richmond (0-11, 0-6).
NON-LEAGUE
McKee/Staten Island Tech 57, Monsignor Farrell 51: Osa Izevbuwa made 10-of-13 free throws and pumped in 22 points and Navdeep Singh and Kareem Martin added nine points apiece for MSIT (8-4). Connor Nicholson scored 16 points for Farrell (3-6).