St. Ray’s sends Holy Cross home early

Having faced St. Raymond’s twice this season, Holy Cross Paul Gilvary knew the physical and defensive-minded Ravens would be a tough match-up for his young group. And when St. Raymond’s jumped out to an early 14-2 lead almost solely on perimeter shooting, he was worried. “When they shoot the ball well,” he said, “with the way they defend and the way they rebound, they’re a very tough team.”
Although Holy Cross managed to dig their way out of the early hole, they could never find a rhythm offensively against the rugged Ravens, falling 60-50 in the quarterfinals of the CHSAA Class AA intersectional playoffs at Christ the King Friday evening.
Behind 18 first-half points from junior Gerald Colds who scored 22 overall, St. Raymond’s (18-8) led 35-25 at halftime. Daryl Bryant added 11 and Torrance McGill, who effectively blanketed Sylven Landesberg, the Knights’ sophomore star, had nine.
“We challenged Torrance McGill,” St. Raymond’s Coach Oliver Antigua said. “We figured he could stay with him. He gave him a tough night. He was phenomenal.”
Landesberg led the Knights with 22 points, but managed just eight after halftime. Trinity Field scored 11 and Laurence Jolicoeur, in his final game, scored just seven points and was 5-of-11 from the free-throw line. “We weren’t playing our game; they slowed us down,” Landesberg said. “They were throwing pressure defense at us and we weren’t prepared, I guess.”
Holy Cross pulled within five early in the fourth quarter, but self destructed thereafter, committing more turnovers (five) than made field goals (three) the rest of the way. “It was like we were in quicksand,” Gilvary said. “We just couldn’t get going.”
Fields knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 56-50 with a minute remaining, but after Colds misfired on a pair of free-throws, senior Merlin Bass’s floater in the lane was too strong. Holy Cross (14-13) wouldn’t threaten again.
With three sophomore starters - Landesberg, Fields and Edy Toussaint - the Knights experienced what Gilvary called a “disappointing ending” to an “enjoyable season.” Landesberg didn’t feel anything was coming to a close, however, saying, “I think it’s just the beginning. We have next year and the year after.”