By Dylan Butler
The star of the Holy Cross basketball team finally got the match-up he's been waiting for when the Knights take on PSAL powerhouse Lincoln Sunday in the main event of the Tom Crotty Classic Sunday at Hofstra University.”I finally got what I wanted,” Landesberg said. “I'm just real happy, I'm psyched. I'm ready for this game.”He's not the only one who can't wait.”I think on several levels it's really interesting,” said recruiting guru Tom Konchalski, editor of the HSBI report.While the game is for citywide bragging rights, another top CHSAA team taking on the kings of the PSAL, what makes this game even more special is that it is an individual grudge match between arguably the best senior in the city – Virginia-bound Landesberg – and the city's undisputed top junior – Lincoln's Lance Stephenson, the latest Coney Island prodigy.”Sylven is a good player,” Stephenson said. “I think he always steps up when he plays me and I'm definitely gonna step up when I play him.”Stephenson, a 6-foot-6 guard, is averaging 21.7 points per game in league play for the Railsplitters, the defending PSAL champions. He's drawing interest from a bevy of Division I schools, including North Carolina, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, USC and Seton Hall.Stephenson is coming off a three-game suspension after a well-publicized fight with a teammate in school.Landesberg, whose suitors included St. John's and Georgia Tech, has helped Holy Cross (12-3) crack the national top 25 rankings as USA Today has the Knights at No. 20 in the county. Lincoln (11-1) is ranked No. 15.”We all want to play them, we all want them,” Holy Cross senior guard Blaise Ffrench said. “They won a state championship last year, so we want to go up against them and see how we match up.”The game will tip-off at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on MSG Network. Holy Cross is just one of several Queens teams to play in the tournament Sunday. St. John's Prep faces Carey (L.I.) at 10 a.m., Archbishop Molloy meets St. Mary's of Manhasset at 7:45 p.m. and Cardozo takes on St. Dominic (L.I.) in the 9 p.m. finale.The tournament honors the memory of Tom Crotty, a Rockville Centre, L.I. native who was the only former Division I basketball player to die during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Crotty played at Marist College and was a managing director at Sandler O'Neill, an investment banking firm that had an office on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center.He left behind his wife, Joanne, and two daughters, Catherine and Caroline.”The event is for a very good cause,” Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary said. “[Tournament organizer] Sam Albano does a great job and I told him we'll play in this event every year.”Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
