If this keeps up, York Prep won’t have to worry about a low seed in the NYSAISAA Class C tournament.
The tiny Manhattan private school edged Ivy Prep League foe Riverdale, 50-49, behind 30 points from Manhattan College-bound star Shane Richards.
“We’re always a very confident team, anyway, but they’ve really handled all the New York competition pretty handily and they played some good teams,” York coach Doug Hill said. “It just, not only our players, but everyone else if we do things we have to do defensively we can really play with anybody.”
Luke Cohen and Elie Mamiye each added eight for York (5-2), which adjusted its style for Riverdale (5-4). Instead of its traditional man-to-man, Hill opted for a zone to nullify the Falcons size.
“For the first time playing zone, we did an amazing job,” he said. “We just did a great job of being really disciplined in the zone and controlling the board on defense – that was the key. Fifty points is the lowest we’ve scored in a long time. Instead of relying on our offense today, we buckled down and played great defense.”
Of course, the win wouldn’t have been possible with the 6-foot-4 Richards’ 30-point performance. Hill lauded his intangibles as much as his ability.
“He just fights so hard and he kind of wills us and brings the whole team along,” the coach said. “That’s really his greatest attribute.”
Hill felt his team was given a poor seed in last year’s tournament despite winning the Independent Schools Athletic League postseason title. It was sent on the road and fell to Lawrence Woodmere Academy in the opening round, nearly rallying from an 18-point deficit. Hill considered classifying as ‘B,’ where the top Ivy programs go, but didn’t want to worry about missing out on the postseason.
“I felt like until you win ‘C,’ it’s hard to say you’re ‘B,’” he said. “It was a tough a call, but I also know it’s all about what you’ve done lately to get a [good] seed. I’d rather know I get into ‘C’ than declare for ‘B’ and hold my breath.
“I didn’t want to rob the kids of a chance of playing for some kind of state title.”
St. Raymond 61, Fordham Prep 53: Larry Graves had 20 points, Shane Rector had 17 points and Kerwin Okoro had 14 points for St. Ray’s (8-4, 5-0 ‘AA’), which was still missing Daniel Dingle (shoulder). He’s expected to play Saturday against Paul IV (Va.) at the Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, W. Va. Fordham Prep is 3-6, 0-3.