Holy Cross delivers KO

The two teams, like their fans, went at one another in a frenetic opening half that included five ties and seven lead changes. Like a see saw, they went back and forth - chant for chant, hoop for hoop, star player for star player.
The latest installment in the Battle of the Boulevard, won by Holy Cross, 79-61, was met with far more intrigue and hype than in previous seasons, because, for one, St. Francis Prep defended their home court in the first meeting, a 70-65 thriller January 12. So this time it was Holy Cross with the pressure, the one who had to hold up their end of the bargain.
“I’ve been waiting for this game since the day we lost,” said Knights’ wing Sylven Landesberg, who was heckled for the first time in his high school career in his home gym - because after 16 minutes of basketball, St. Francis Prep looked to have a handle on things.
Their raucous throng, parked under the far basket in the packed William J. O’Meara Memorial Gym, was loud and boisterous, outcheering the Holy Cross faithful. The Catholic league’s second leading scorer, Michael Cavataio, led the way with 16 points, as St. Francis Prep took a 32-30 edge into intermission. Even more, Landesberg, Holy Cross’s own prolific marksman, ahead of Cavataio in points per game, was held to a quiet 12, and his partner in crime, his right hand man, Kayvon Roberts, went scoreless, stuck to the bench with two fouls.
“This was a real big game,” Roberts said. “I thought to myself, ‘we can’t lose again.’ ”
When the third quarter started, he made sure of that, scoring all 12 of his points in those eight minutes of basketball - a 26-11 Knights’ edge during that time - that defined this chapter of the rivalry and quieted the Terrier contingent for good.
After trading hoops with Robert Nacer, Roberts drained a jumper from the left corner, then a 3-pointer from the right wing. Point guard Blaise Ffrench knifed in the lane and dropped in a runner off the glass before picking off an errant pass and going coast to coast for an easy hoop to suddenly expand the lead to seven.
“Both of them have played really well,” Holy Cross Coach Paul Gilvary said of junior duo.
By the time center Tim Beinert drew Cavataio’s third foul on a charge, Roberts drained another trey, this one in the far right corner, and Ffrench fed Landesberg and Ernest Freeman in transition for uncontested layups, the differential was up to 14, 48-34, and the Knights’ (16-4, 6-3), crowd was flying.
Landesberg, who led all scorers with 26 points, capped the 18-0 run with yet another jumper but it was the rest of the team, particularly Ffrench and Roberts, who combined for 19 points in the decisive quarter and 33 overall, which turned it into a rout.
“He stepped up big time; that what big-time players do,” Landesberg said of his point guard, adding of Roberts: “A lot of people sleep on him. You can’t leave him open.”
At one point down by 17, St. Francis Prep (14-6, 4-5) whittled the difference down to 10 when guard Keith Nandin (eight points) dropped in a 3-pointer. Yet Landesberg answered with another silky jumper, and, the next time down court, Cavataio (team-high 21 points) got a piece of him - his fifth and final foul - from 3-point range as the shot clock expired. It was the Terriers’ last gasp.
“Sylven, great acting on his part. I barely touched him,” the frustrated St. John’s recruit said. “It was hard being on the bench, not being able to help the team out.”