Stepinac Takes Ireton to OT: But Sustains Fourth Straight Loss

Bishop Ireton High School from the famed DC-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) traveled from Alexandria, Virginia to take on the Crusaders at Stepinac High School, on Sunday, Dec. 22.

Ireton came to play the Crusaders at the invite of new Stepinac Head Basketball Coach Steve Herman, after a suggestion from Archbishop Annunciation Elementary School Athletic Director Bill McLoughlin, a longtime friend of Herman’s and a college friend of Cardinals’ Head Coach Neil Berkman.

The WCAC is one of the top five high-school basketball conferences in the nation, which lists famed DeMatha High School and Gonzaga High School as members.

Stepinac plays in the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), which is also one of the top five high-school basketball conferences in the nation. Therefore, to get these two powerhouse conferences to play each other in White Plains was a special treat for Crusaders fans.

With Stepinac (1-4) losing three straight games and three out four games this season coming into the game against Ireton, expectations were low for a competitive contest against the powerhouse Cardinals (5-2). Furthermore, the Crusaders had lost their last three games by an average of 27 points.

After Stepinac lost to St. Peter’s High School by 35 points, 82-47, on December 15; Herman instituted rigorous practices, which seemed to get his players prepared to face a team in one of the nation’s top conferences.

Despite the fact that Stepinac did sustain their fourth straight loss at the hands of Ireton, 74-70. They did manage to gain back their self-respect and the respect of their fans by taking powerhouse Ireton into overtime and were two plays away from possibly winning the game.

With the score tied 63-63 and six seconds remaining in regulation time, Crusaders senior guard Walter King had a good look and missed a foul-line jumper from his favorite shooting spot on the court.

Then in overtime, with forwards Demarcus Miller and Tyrin Miller having fouled out, in the game on a substitution came senior Darien Charlemagne, who is usually a competent role player for the Crusaders.

Nevertheless, with 12.7 seconds remaining in the game, Charlemagne made the play of the game and the blunder of the game. With the Cardinals winning, 72-70, Charlemagne stole the ball at half-court but did not pass the ball immediately to one of his speedy guards King or Naim Thomas.

Instead, Charlemagne held the ball and got trapped by the Cardinals defense and turned the ball back over to Ireton. Then Cardinals forward Dan Noe was fouled and made both free throws, which sealed the Crusaders fate with a 74-70, loss in overtime.

“This was more like Stepinac basketball against a team that is in one of the best high-school conferences in the country, the Washington DC Catholic League,” stated Herman. “We were right there aside from a couple of mistakes. The steal at the end of the game I told him (Charlemagne) it was great that you got the steal but what I was looking for him to do there was give the ball up to one of the guards,” said Herman.

Although Herman did have one timeout left in the game he opted not to call it after Charlemagne got the steal. “There were two schools of thought: If I called a timeout and disrupted the play maybe we could have gotten a score in transition. What I was looking for Charlemagne to do was give the ball to one of the guards. When he didn’t, I probably should have called the timeout,” explained Herman.

The Crusaders played well and displayed resiliency in the game against the powerhouse Ireton. They were losing by as many as 13 points in the third quarter to come back and end the quarter down by only three points, 50-53. The Crusaders even took the lead by one point 54-53, in the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“As a fan, it was a great game; as a coach you are kind of pulling your hair out,” said Ireton Head Coach Berkman. “You get up by eleven, than they (Stepinac) come back. They were very resilient, they are very well coached and they played hard,” stated Berkman, regarding the Crusaders, after the game.

King was game-high with 27 points for the Crusaders, junior guard Kylan Guerra had 16 points and Thomas contributed 11 points in the losing effort. For the Cardinals guard Patrick Moseh led the team with 25 points, Noe had 18 points and guard Ty Quarles scored 17 points.

 

White Plains Tiger’s Kyle Adams Commits to University of Richmond

Kyle Adams, the Captain and catcher of the 2012-13 Tigers League Champion baseball team has accepted an athletic scholarship offer to play baseball for the University of Richmond next year.

Adams graduated from White Plains High School, in June 2013 and is presently attending Salisbury Preparatory School, in Salisbury, Connecticut. Nonetheless, his baseball and academic talents were recognized by the University of Richmond, while he was attending Salisbury and the scholarship offer was extended.

Adams will play for the Richmond Spiders baseball team of the elite Atlantic 10 Conference. Therefore, local fans will be able to watch Adams play locally, when he and the Spiders visit the Rose Hill Campus of Fordham University, in the Bronx. The Rams baseball team is also a member of the A-10 Conference.

 

NY Yankees Camps Coming to Stepinac and Hackley

The New York Yankees Summer Camps presented by Refuel with Chocolate Milk are returning to our area again this summer.

The Yankees will hold camp sessions at Stepinac High School, from June 23-27, 2014. The Yankees will also sponsor camps with Refuel with Chocolate Milk, at Hackley School, in Tarrytown from July 21-25 and at Kennedy Catholic High School, in Somers from July 14-18.

Yankees camp sessions are available to boys and girls between the ages of five and 13 years with each camper receiving a full Yankees uniform, on-field skill development and professional instructions. Campers also get a chance to take a guided tour of Yankee Stadium.

Campers in session when the Yankees are playing on the road will get a tour of the Yankees Clubhouse. Campers in session when the Yankees are playing at home will get the opportunity to meet a member of the 2014 New York Yankees.

Most Yankees camp sessions continue for five days at a cost of $559 per camper. Enrollment forms are now available at www.yankees.com/camps