Legit Terriers

The scoreboard isn't going to change. The 69-52 final in favor of Rice will stick.
But one thing is for sure: after St. Francis Prep didn't quite ace their first test - league-wise - of the young season, for three quarters and change they certainly passed it and traveling to Fresh Meadows is now different - very, very, different.
&#8220They're better,” Rice Coach Mo Hicks said. &#8220I thought they were good last year, but they just didn't have scoring punch. … They are playing together, they are playing smart. They're a good club.”
The Terriers came in 10-1, 1-0 in the Catholic school league, equaling their entire output of a season ago in the CHSAA. They welcomed Rice, the defending Catholic city and state champions, a program that graduated three starters - Curtis Kelly, Edgar Sosa and Kashif Pratt - all playing in the Big East now, but as usual lined with talent up and down their roster.
Nevertheless, this is not the same St. Francis Prep team. They have a tough, gritty point guard in Keith Nandin, an able center in John Matzelle, and notably, a difference-maker in Mike Cavataio, a Christ the King transfer who sat out last year because of league rules. Thanks to Cavataio, St. Francis Prep, after trailing by six at halftime, led 38-32 at one point in the third quarter, the &#8220Cav-a-taio” chants rocking the stands and shaking the floor, after he completed a three-point play in the lane.
&#8220It's nice to have that happen,” he said, &#8220but it would be nicer to get a win. I thought we had them beat.”
Nevertheless, the Raiders (10-2, 4-0 CHSAA AA West) are still a national power, even with all their personnel losses. Chris Fouche hit back-to-back 3-pointers - &#8220a momentum killer,” Cavataio said - and Kemba Walker dropped in 12 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. Then Cavataio cramped up in both calves, limiting him in the final six minutes, a decisive stretch in which the Raiders ran the Terriers off the court, 22-6.
&#8220We wore down - that's what they do,” St. Francis Prep Coach Tim Leary said, referring to the Raiders' full-court pressure.
Even so, it was a night where St. Francis Prep (10-2, 1-1 CHSA AA East) stood eye to eye with a team that will again be at the top of the league without blinking. In past years, they were never in the game, the contest out of hand before halftime. That is no longer the case. The Terriers just hope the wins will follow.
&#8220This game is a learning experience,” Leary said. &#8220That's one of the best high school teams in the country. There's a lot of positives we're going to take out of it.”