By Dylan Butler
Sundiata Gaines doesn’t consider himself to be much of a Molloy basketball historian, but the senior guard knew exactly how many points he needed to break the school’s all-time single-game scoring record.
Why else would he scream out in frustration for missing the front end of two free throws and plead with head coach Jack Curran to keep him in the game with the Stanners leading by 28 late in the fourth quarter en route to a 103-80 win at McClancy Tuesday.
“Five more coach,” Gaines said to Curran after leaving the court for the final time with 2:21 left in the fourth quarter.
Near the end of the bench, Will Kettrell followed suit. But Curran wouldn’t budge. Nope, 52 points was good enough today. Kenny Anderson’s school record of 56 points would go unbroken.
“We had to get our subs in; the other team had their subs in. He can get the record against Rice or St. Raymond’s or something,” Curran said. “When he makes his perimeter shots he’s unguardable. But he missed a few (foul shots). He could have broken the record if he made his foul shots.”
Gaines’ final stat line is staggering: 52 points on 21-of-30 shooting, including 6-of-10 from three-point range. And for good measure, the Georgia-bound guard added five assists and two steals in 29 minutes.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I wanted to go out in my last year right,” said Gaines, who leads the CHSAA AA in scoring, averaging 26.3 points per game. “It’s a good accomplishment and it’s an honor to a break a record by him.”
McClancy coach Don Kent told the Crusaders before the game that he believed Gaines was the best player in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens division. But that doesn’t mean McClancy (9-11, 1-8 CHSAA AA East) had an answer for the sweet shooting guard they call, “Yadda.”
“Years back Andre Aldridge came in here with Holy Cross and he shot the eyes out of the basket,” Kent said. “But Sundiata Gaines has the whole package … Georgia got themselves a very good player.”
Lost in Gaines’ spectacular shooting night was a solid performance by senior forward Vinny Falzone, who scored a career-high 20 points — 18 in the first half — and grabbed 15 rebounds. Kettrell added 15 points for Molloy (14-7, 7-3), which jumped out to a 27-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and was up 46-30 at halftime.
“He rebounds, he can score a little. He does a lot of good things,” Curran said of Falzone.
Sophomore Mohamed Lo had 24 points and Will Borgolte added 23 for McClancy, which hopes to bounce back against All Hallows Friday, while Molloy hosts St. Raymond’s Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Xavier 46, St. John’s Prep 45. Fordham-bound Bryant Dunston led the Red Storm with 19 points, but Xavier managed to hold on to the upset win, courtesy of Kareem McQuilken’s three-pointer in the waning second. McQuilken led all scorers with 22.
Monsignor Scanlon 54, Cathedral Prep 51. First place Scanlon was led by Willie Bowman and Moses Tanyi, who had 18 and 10 points respectively to beat last year’s CHSAA ‘C’ state champions.
Christ the King 62, St. Dominic’s 46. The Royals were led by senior forward Brian Beckford, who had 16 points and nine rebounds en route to winning the MVP at the Tom Crotty Classic at St. John’s University Saturday.
Holy Cross 76, Bishop Ford 48. Four players scored in double figures for the Knights, led by Gordon McKenzie with 14 points. Anthony Clarke added 13, followed by Kevin Ogeltree with 12 and Michael Johnson with 11 for Cross, now 12-7 overall and 3-5 in CHSAA league play.
St. Francis Prep 62, Monsignor McClancy 58. Brian Fink led the Terriers with 14 points, while Will Borgolte paced McClancy with 20, but St. Francis won the game, upping their record to 12-7 overall and 3-5 in league play.
Christ the King 77, Rice 73 (OT). The Royals were led by Akeem Gooding, who scored a career-best 33, leading CK to an upset win over the team considered tops in the city Friday in Middle Village. Chris Martin added 19, Beckford chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds and Niko Scott scored 12, five in the extra session. CK improved to 10-9 overall and 5-6 in league play.
Archbishop Molloy 102, Holy Cross 68. Up 15 at the break, 44-33, the Stanners continued to roll in the second half en route to the easy win. Sundiata Gaines scored 37 for the Stanners, followed by Willis Ketrell with 27 points and 13 rebounds and Vinny Falzone with 20 points. Molloy is now 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the league.
St. Francis Prep 50, Xaverian 49. Bryan Geffen led the Terriers with 22 points, including two free throws in the final minute that sealed the win. Brian Fink contributed 10 points and six boards.
— Anthony Bosco contributed to this story
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
