By Dylan Bulter
Blaise Ffrench knew he had to redeem himself. Sure he put Holy Cross in front on a free throw with 15.5 seconds left, but he also missed the second shot, opening the door for Xaverian to win the game with one final shot.
But Ffrench came up huge on the other end, getting a piece of Joseph Ecock's attempted game-winning three-pointer with six seconds remaining. Teammate Ernest Freeman gobbled up the rebound as Holy Cross held on for a 68-67 win in the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan semifinals Wednesday night at Bishop Ford.
“I felt I needed to make up for [the missed free throw] because if they would have made the three, it would have been a big burden on me,” Ffrench said. “I would have felt devastated.”
Holy Cross will meet Christ the King, which defeated Bishop Loughlin in the other semifinal, in the final Friday at 7 p.m. at Ford.
The game will be a rematch of last year's Brooklyn/Queens championship game, won by Christ the King. Ffrench was also on the freshman team that lost to CK in the city final two years ago.
“They're good and we're good this season,” Ffrench said. “That game never gets old.”
Ffrench often plays in the shadow of Sylven Landesberg, the Knights' all-world junior forward. But Wednesday night, Landesberg picked up two quick fouls and he played tentatively. He scored a team-high 18 points, but had just six in the second half.
With Landesberg's foul problems and starting forward Tim Beinert out with a bad back, Holy Cross (16-7) needed someone else to step up and Ffrench did just that.
“I give Blaise a lot of credit because he just missed a foul shot and sometimes when the play doesn't turn out the way you want it, kids pout a little or they have a little mental lapse and one bad play becomes two bad plays,” Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary said. “The fact that he got back on defense, found his man and made the block was a very positive play on his part.”
Holy Cross went 3-of-6 from the foul line in the final minute and Xaverian (15-10) tied the game at 67 on a Reggie Davis layup with 23.4 seconds left. The Clippers' full-court press forced a Landesberg turnover moments earlier, but this time Matt Troisi fouled Ffrench.
“He knew what we were doing, but I think he just lost his balance,” Xaverian coach Jack Alesi said of Troisi. “He's a pretty smart kid, he knows what's going on.”
Patrick Jackson scored a game-high 22 points, Vincent Council had 14 points, but was out of the game late with leg cramps, Jamie Blanchard had 12 points and Davis scored eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter for Xaverian.
Shameel Carty and Kayvon Roberts scored 13 points apiece for Holy Cross, which has yet another meeting with Christ the King. The two teams split the regular-season series, with Holy Cross winning at home, 74-70, Jan. 9 and Christ the King bouncing back, 69-66, Feb. 6.
“Last year, my first year on varsity, I was a little scared coming into play Christ the King,” Landesberg said. “This year, we've got one win on them and they got one win on us, so I'm more confident we can come out with a W.”
Christ the King 80, Bishop Loughlin 68. It's almost become an annual rite of passage. It was this time last year that Ryan Pearson exploded on the scene for Christ the King and on Wednesday night it was Sean Johnson's turn.
The sophomore guard scored a game-high 20 points to lead the top-seeded Royals over Bishop Loughlin in the second Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan semifinal.
“I was nervous in the beginning, but I came out and did what I had to do,” Johnson said.
Johnson shook off the early jitters with back-to-back three-point plays midway through the first quarter. It led the Royals to a 13-0 run following nine straight Loughlin points and Christ the King (21-4) took a 25-14 lead into the second quarter.
The game was played at a frenetic pace, which played perfectly into Christ the King's biggest strength: its lightning quick backcourt. Florida-bound Erving Walker had 18 points, St. John's-signee Malik Boothe added 11 and the Royals were in front, 42-31, at the half.
Pearson had 17 points and Andrew Gabriel added 12 for Christ the King, which bounced back from rare back-to-back losses and looked much improved following Friday night's 68-49 shellacking by Rice.
Devon Elliot had 17 points, James Johnson had 15 points and freshman phenom Jayvaughn Pinkston added 12 for Bishop Loughlin, which had won 11 of its last 13 games before losing to CK for the second time in 12 days.
Next up for the Royals is yet another clash with Holy Cross and Walker certainly knows his record in championship games against the Knights.
“They're a great team and we're just going to come out and play our game,” he said. “Hopefully, it's the same [result].”
