Shawn Jones has turned into a good luck charm of sorts for St. Raymond’s, ever since he became a starter three games ago.
A game in which their best player, Daniel Dingle, would go scoreless, St. Raymond’s still found a way to win. The host and fourth-seeded Ravens defeated No. 5 All Hallows, 67-50, in the CHSAA Archdiocesan quarterfinals Sunday in The Bronx. They’ll play top-seed Cardinal Hayes in the semifinals Tuesday back at St. Ray’s
The Ravens (16-9) rallied around Kerwin Okoro (24 points, 13 rebounds), and the sophomore Jones stepped up to fill the void left by their best player. St. Ray’s 6-foot-7 senior forward Dingle, who is averaging 18.5 points a game, found himself in foul trouble early. He would eventually foul out in the fourth, without contributing a single basket to the team’s victory.
“Coach told us Danny’s in foul trouble, so someone is going to need to step up,” Jones said. “I was one of the players he called on, so I stepped up.”
Jones scored 13 points on the night, including going 3-of-3 from long range. In the three games that Jones has started, the Ravens are undefeated. They beat PSAL stalwarts Lincoln and Boys & Girls last week on consecutive days. Those were St. Ray’s biggest victories on the year.
“I really wasn’t sure what I was going to get from him when I first made him a starter,” said St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua. “He didn’t play for most of the first half of the season, so he was just being patient and waiting his turn. He’s been playing really good for us.”
“It just goes to show you, it’s not how you start, but how you finish,” added Antigua.
Jones, who scored seven of his 13 points in the third quarter, surely echoes this statement. With All Hallow cutting St. Ray’s lead to eight with less than a minute to go in the third, Jones hit a 3-pointer and, then on the next possession, hit a jump shot. Extending his team’s lead 51-38 going into the fourth.
Antigua recalled a meeting he had with Jones earlier in the season, where he had to tell his player that he wouldn’t be receiving much playing time.
“I told him, ‘Listen, you might not play that much this year, but you’ll be a starter as junior,’” Antigua said. “‘You’re just going to have to wait.’”
But with senior guard Myron Hickman coming off a bacterial infection, and not being able to start yet, Jones received his chance to play. He’s logging valuable minutes at the biggest time of the year for St. Ray’s, and reaping the benefits of his new-found playing time.
All Hallows (9-14) would cut St. Ray’s lead back down to 10 with less than five minutes to play, but then one of those newfound role players stepped up. Hickman (12 points) the one-time starter, who finds himself coming off the bench now, swung momentum back to the Ravens.
He drove to the basket and made a layup, but All Hallows was called for an intentional foul. This put Hickman on the line for two, both of which he made, turning it into a four-point play. St. Ray’s was back up 59-45, and they coasted from there. As All Hallows grew tired, St. Ray’s grew stronger, outscoring the opposition 12-5 in the final five minutes.
Junior guard Ethan Hamlet led All Hallows with 14 points and senior Davon Robinson added 10 points of his own.
“We have a target on the city championship game,” Okoro said, “and whoever gets in the way, we’re just going to get prepared for.”