St. Ray’s 56 All Hallows 46
It wasn’t exactly the matchup it will be later in the year, but St. Raymond’s isn’t complaining.
The Ravens beat All Hallows, 56-46, yesterday at the Gauchos Gym in The Bronx, but both teams played their season openers without their best players.
“We didn’t have Allan [Ray] and they didn’t have Ricky [Soliver],” said Raven coach Gary DeCesare. “So we matched up pretty well.”
And St. Raymond’s found that even without the Villanova-bound Ray, one of the city’s premier performers who will be out until early January with a broken foot, they still have a solid team, albeit one that isn’t too easy on the eyes.
Both squads struggled offensively, particularly in the second quarter, when All Hallows outscored St. Raymond’s 6-4.
DeCesare took the blame for that, but didn’t seem to mind all that much.
“We focused so much on defense this week,” DeCesare said. “I think some of the guys forgot about offense. That’s better than the alternative.”
In Ray’s absence, the Ravens relied on the offense of Tariq Atkins, who scored 12 of his game-high 18 in the first half and the sturdy defense of Anwar Baptiste. The 6-foot-3 Baptiste was in charge of All Hallows’ 6-7 Kiril Wachsmann (six points) and as DeCesare said, “He did his job.”
But it was Atkins who provided the points, which were hard to come by.
“My role has changed since Allan got hurt,” Atkins said. “We were anxious about this game, but I enjoy being in the spotlight. I know I can do it.”
It helped that the Ravens had 16 offensive rebounds to the Gaels’ six.
“That’s the game right there,” said All Hallows’ head coach John Carey. “We don’t have the team chemistry needed to be competitive.”
That will likely change when Soliver, who is expected back soon after he gets his grades in order, returns. Yesterday, Marvin McCullough was tremendous, scoring 17 points, but he cramped up in the second half and the Gaels couldn’t overcome that.
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Robeson is off to a 2-0 start in the PSAL despite being without its two top players. Shakiem Mitchell, a 6-8 transfer from Rice, was only cleared to play by the Board of Education’s Board of Review yesterday. The Board had been looking into his transfer waiver, which said that Mitchell had left Rice for financial reasons.
“We were looking into whether he had a scholarship at Rice,” said Board member Bill Codd. “His financial status was legitimate, so he can begin playing right away.”
Robeson’s other star, Gary Ervin, has been out because of academic reasons and must wait until report cards come out Wednesday to see if he is eligible.