By Marc Raimondi
“The whole week, everybody in Queens was talking about this game,” Stanners senior Rocco Rubino said. “So, the whole team was hyped up to play.” And when the loud, raucous crowd filed out after a 78-51 Molloy win, the one they were taking about was Rubino. The Stanners senior had 23 points – to Cavataio's 9 – in leading his team in a rout over the upstart Terriers. “Everybody is talking about Cavataio – he's a great player,” Rubino said. “But we just came to the occasion.” A Molloy (9-7, 3-3 CHSAA 'AA') blow out was certainly unexpected. Prep (12-3, 3-2) was playing as well as anyone in the city. “We worry about [a rout] going the other way,” Curran said. “We're a perimeter team and if we don't make shots, we have problems.” That wasn't an issue Friday. Senior guards Lionel Hilaire (15 points) and Fred Dorgler (14) were Rubino's supporting pieces and senior point guard Dennis O'Grady steadied the offense. But Molloy's biggest boon was its 3-2 zone, especially on Cavataio. “The kind of zone that they were playing,” he said, “it kind of kept me locked up in the corner most of the night.” The crowd, of course, had nothing to do with it, even though the Molloy contingent got on him at times with chants of “overrated” and “Rocco's better.” The smaller Prep following combated those all night. “It was like 20-30 years ago out there,” Curran said. Keith Nandin, JT Matzelle and Darren Noisette each had 8 points for the Terriers. “On any given night, anybody can beat anybody,” Curran said. “(St. Francis Prep has) been playing terrific. They've probably been playing better than anybody in the league.”
