Loughlin and Lamb deny Cross B/Q title

In two wins this year over Bishop Loughlin, Sylven Landesberg was virtually unstoppable. He scored 36 points in the first meeting, an overtime thriller. He led the Knights in the other one, too.
In the third match-up, the Virginia-bound guard, who last week was named to the McDonald’s All-American team and was voted the CHSAA’s Player of the Year for a second consecutive season, was again brilliant, scoring a game-high 33 points. However, in the penultimate moments of the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan final, when Loughlin’s 76-66 victory was already decided, their first such crown since 2000, he was only the second best player on the floor.
When Bishop Loughlin was making their run, out-scoring the Knights 23-9 in the third quarter, sophomore Doron Lamb looked like the league’s most prolific scorer.
“It was real hard to stop him,” Holy Cross guard Blaise Ffrench said after the Knights failed to repeat as Diocesan champions.
In a head-spinning eight minutes, Lamb scored 17 of his team-high 28 points. The dynamic 6-foot-4 guard hit from all angles and spots on the court. He started with a jumper from each elbow. He added lay-ups and steals, 3-pointers and offensive rebounds. He finished his dominant quarter with a baby jumper in traffic, extending the Lions’ lead to 15.
Behind Landesberg, the school’s all-time leading scorer, Holy Cross would put together several mini-runs. But each comeback was met with an answer, either by Lamb or his senior backcourt mate James Johnson (16 points), or senior Kevin Philip and sophomore Jayvaughn Pinkston (14 points, 19 rebounds) in the paint.
Landesberg had no such luxury. Ffrench had his back, putting up 22 points, but 12 came in the first half. Their third-leading scorer, Kayvon Roberts, was held to four. Forwards Tim Beinert and Ernest Freeman struggled, too.
Even so, it was their lack of defense in that third quarter that left the Knights (19-8) scratching their heads, particularly the effort on Lamb. His first few shots came against little resistance. From there, Landesberg said, he had momentum and it did not matter how much pressure they put on him, the shots were falling.
“He started hitting everything - I mean everything - he was hitting some great shots,” Landesberg said. “We should’ve run the ball out of his hands, made some other people hit shots.”
It was quite a week for Landesberg. From becoming the first All-American at Holy Cross since Willie Dersch in 1996 to being named Player of the Year, the first back-to-back winner in quite some time. Then he surpassed the 2,000-point total in his career in the first half, a remarkable feat considering he was on the freshman team his first year at the Flushing school. But those achievements paled in comparison to his ultimate goal.
“All those other things, they’re nice to have, but this is what I’m really playing for, a championship,” he said. “Without this, it’s pointless.”
Neither he, nor his fellow Knights, are done yet. They draw St. Peter’s of Staten Island in the quarterfinals of the city playoffs Friday at Christ the King. Last year, Holy Cross came tantalizingly close to the final, coughing up an 18-point lead in the semifinals. For their all-senior starting five, this is their final shot together.
“You lose,” Ffrench said, “you’re going home forever.”
“Last year Christ the King lost this game and won the city championship,” Holy Cross Coach Paul Gilvary said. “The intersectional playoffs are a whole new season. We’ll get ready for the quarterfinals and hopefully we’ll play up to our capabilities on Friday night.”