By Dylan Butler
This time it was Anthony Clark who had the shot, a good look from the right wing. But the 14-footer rimmed out and this time the Holy Cross basketball team fell just short, dropping a 60-59 decision to New Jersey's Don Bosco Prep Sunday in the second annual Tom Crotty Memorial Classic at Carnesecca Arena.It was a roller coaster final 31.2 seconds for Clark, one of Holy Cross' four senior starters. The Cambria Heights native converted a 3-point play to put the Knights, which trailed 55-47 with 5:33 left in the second half, in front, 59-58.Clark and point guard Michael Johnson had Don Bosco's Stephen Natoll trapped in the corner off the inbound. But Clark was called for the foul and Natoll buried both free throws to give Don Bosco the lead with 28.9 seconds left.”Coach said to mirror the ball but I couldn't help it because (the guy) turned and put the ball right in my stomach,” Clark said. “It was a natural reaction to just take it out of his hands.”Johnson had an inbound underneath the basket, but was forced to call a time out when he couldn't find an open man with 13.1 seconds left.Finally Johnson kicked the ball to Clark, who scored a team-high 22 points but missed a jumper with six seconds left.”We really wanted to score off the out of bounds play, but Mike said he couldn't make the pass,” Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary said. “Our other choice was to get it in to Anthony and we wanted to have Mike penetrate and try and find someone and he did. He found Anthony for a good look. He was open, took a good shot but it went in and out.”Holy Cross (15-5) led by 10 at the start of the second half, but Don Bosco went on a 23-6 run to take a 55-47 lead with 5:33 left. The final six points of the stretch was scored by Pittsburgh-bound Tyrell Biggs, a 6-foot-8, 270-pound beast who finished with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds.Unable to find an answer for Biggs, Gilvary finally went with Johnson, a lightning quick 5-foot-11 guard.”I put Mike Johnson on him the last four minutes of the game and he didn't score,” Gilvary said of Biggs. “It's not a matter of size, you have to be tough physically and you have to be tough mentality to guard a good player like that. When I put Mike on him, he just wouldn't let him get the ball.”As was the case in most of their games, Holy Cross was undermanned against Don Bosco and used their quickness and tenacity to take a 36-28 lead into the break. But the Knights struggled at the start of the second half and it allowed Don Bosco to creep back into the game.”What really hurt us was the beginning of the second half, we came out a little sluggish,” Clark said. “We can't depend on that all the time. As coach says, you can't turn it on and off.”Kevin Ogletree had 16 points and Gordon McKenzie added 11 points for Holy Cross, which defeated Xaverian, 78-73 in double overtime Friday night.Trevor Harris had 15 points and Carl Augustin added 11 points and six rebounds for Don Bosco, which held a 32-20 rebounding edge.Molloy 75, Frederick Douglass Academy 55. George Kunkel had 24 points to lead Molloy (10-10) Sunday, while Steve McKoy scored 16 points for FDA.Christ the King 56, Pocono Mountain 52. Chris Martin had 21 points, Larry Davis had 13 and Akeem Gooding added 12 for the Royals Saturday night.St. Raymond's 72, St. Francis Prep 62. Fordham-bound Chris Bethel had 23 points and Quinten Redfern added 13 for St. Raymond's (11-5, 5-1) Saturday. Ray McKie had 18 points and Michael Marin had 14 for St. Francis Prep (11-9, 3-5 CHSAA AA-East).Holy Cross 78, Xaverian 73. Ogletree had 27 points, including a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime Friday in Brooklyn. McKenzie had 21 points and Brandon Everett added nine off the bench for Holy Cross. Xaverian was led by Pitt-bound Levance Fields, who had 32 points – including all eight of his team's points in the two overtimes – and Saiquon Stone added 18 before fouling out.St. John's Prep 52, LaSalle Academy 51. Jelanie Winfield had 17 points, including a pair of free throws late, and 10 rebounds and Richard Thomas added 16 points and eight boards for St. John's Prep (18-1, 13-1 CHSAA A-South) in a rematch of last year's Class A City Championship game, which was won by LaSalle.St. Francis Prep 52, Archbishop Molloy 49. McKie led the Terriers with 17 points Friday night.Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
