In a final that looked at points that it could go either way, Saturday's Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) AA boys basketball game went the way of the Cardinal Hayes High School Cardinals of the Bronx, 85-69, to win the Archdiocesan league championship.
Cardinal Hayes had a bye in the first round as the tournament's top seed. After one quarter, Hayes held a healthy lead over tourney no. 2 Archbishop Stepinac High School Crusaders, 24-11. But by halftime, Stepinac had trimmed that lead to a mere two points, heading into the locker room trailing Hayes, 41-39.
Whatever Cardinals Coach Joe Hods said to his team during halftime, it appears to work. In the third quarter, although Stepinac pulled within one point in the early moments, from the 3:30 mark in that quarter onward, it was Hayes all the way. The Cardinals led by 12 points at the end of the third quarter, and cruised in the final period Hayes's loyal sons marched on to an 85-69 win.
Elijah Moore led all scorers with 29 points; Ian Jackson scored 18 points; and Steven Solano with 12 points.
For Stepinac, Boogie Fland scored 22 points with four assists and three rebounds; Braylan Ritvo dropped in 11 points with six boards and three assists; Jasiah Jervis added 10 points and two rebounds. The game took place at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx, which hosted both the semi-finals and finals. Hayes defeated Stepinac in the final game of the regular season, 66-60. In their last seven meetings, the teams have mostly split, with Hayes winning four of seven. The champions and runners-up get a few days to recover, then enter the city playoffs against Catholic high school boys teams from Brooklyn and Queens, in addition to their traditional rivals in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.