Vinny Marchiano’s final home game at St. Edmund Prep wasn’t quite what he expected.
Instead of a big performance in a convincing victory, Senior Night for the 6-foot-3 guard had the same sickening feeling of the Eagles’ previous four games. St. Edmund Prep came out slow, fell behind big and couldn’t dig itself out of the hole in a 63-56 loss to Blessed Sacrament Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn.
“Five games in a row now we’ve had slow first halves,” St. Edmund Prep coach Dan Wiatre said. “It’s been a bad habit for us. If it continues, we’re not going to have much more time left this year.”
Senior Night was supposed to be different. That, in itself, should have provided the emotional push at the opening tip. Instead, the start was delayed 45 minutes because Blessed Sacrament arrived late, and the visiting Cardinals took the game to the Eagles.
Led by Loyola-bound forward David Samuels, Blessed Sacrament closed out the first half on a 21-5 run, taking a 39-23 lead into the halftime break. St. Edmund (10-13) was without starting point guard Brian Garvey, one of seven seniors on the Eagles roster. He is suspended for the remainder of the season after he left the bench during an altercation in the stands at Salesian on Monday.
“Between them being a bit late, the emotions of the day and us not having our starting point guard, we came out a bit discombobulated and they’re a good team,” Wiatre said.
Blessed Sacrament (8-11) is the defending CHSAA Class B intersectional champion, but Marchiano said the Eagles didn’t take the Cardinals seriously, at least until they trailed by 16 at the half.
“We underestimated these guys,” he said. “We heard they were in the ‘B’ division and it was our Senior Night so we were a little excited. We took it too lightly today.”
Marchiano scored 15 points, but he struggled with his shot all game. Danny DeJesus picked it up, scoring a team-high 16 points, but the Eagles couldn’t overcome a 19-point third-quarter deficit.
“When our main shooters/scorers don’t make baskets, we struggle,” Wiatre said. “We had about four or five stops in a row at the end of the third quarter, it was 44-32 and we couldn’t make a dent.”
Instead, Samuels (19 points) nearly put a dent in the rim, sending in a thunderous alley-oop to close out the third quarter. St. Edmund’s rallied to get within 60-54 with 1:17 left, but sharpshooter John Browning badly missed two 3-point attempts and the Eagles wouldn’t get any closer.
“This isn’t what we really wanted,” Marchiano said. “But we finished third in the division and had the best record in about seven years so that was an accomplishment for us.”
Now the Eagles turn their attentions to the CHSAA Class A intersectional playoffs. They face either St. Joseph by the Sea or Cardinal Spellman in the second round Tuesday.
“In the playoffs it’s anyone’s game, we’re all 0-0 and everyone comes out aggressive,” Marchiano said. “If we come out like we’re supposed to, we definitely have a very good chance.”
Added DeJesus: “We can’t just think teams are going to slow down and let us catch them. We have to go out and get it from the tip. When we play our best basketball, we can beat any team.”