H.S. ROUNDUP
Rob Pavinelli doesn’t know if his team will have a chance to compete for the CHSAA state championship in March, but if it does, St. Dominic’s could be trouble for some of the city’s elite teams.
The Bayhawks won’t find out from their league whether they will compete in the CHSAA AA or A playoffs until next month. If, as expected, they are placed in the AA playoffs, St. Dominic’s has already shown what it is capable of doing.
“We’re very confident,” said junior Markeys Deans, who led St. Dom’s with 18 points in a 68-47 win over All Hallows yesterday at the Tom Crotty Classic at St. John’s. “We talk about getting to the championship every day in practice.”
To get there, the Oyster Bay school must first get past St. Mary’s of Manhasset, which has won the Long Island league the last eight years. And since St. Mary’s has been bumped up to the AA level, the Gaels have lost to the eventual CHSAA city champion at Fordham University in the state playoffs.
“It’s on everybody’s mind,” said Deans. “We’ve responded really well this year.”
Yet they still have to find a way to knock off St. Mary’s, which already beat St. Dom’s by five earlier this season.
“That’s what we’re focused on before anything else,” said head coach Pavinelli. “But we’ve got a lot more talent than we’ve had in some other years.”
And the Bayhawks’ play against tough CHSAA competition so far this year should give Pavinelli even more reason to be optimistic. With yesterday’s victory, they are 3-1 against city teams, with wins over Xaverian and St. Raymond earlier in the year.
Yesterday’s game was All Hallows’ first since upsetting Christ the King on Tuesday. The Royals hadn’t lost a league game until then.
“We know what they did to Christ the King,” Deans said. “So since we beat them, why can’t we beat anybody?”
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Sylven Landesberg is only a sophomore, but he is already becoming one of the best players in the CHSAA. And while his Holy Cross team hasn’t had great success in the CHSAA AA division, it’s clear that the Knights can play with just about anyone.
The 6-4 Landesberg led Holy Cross to a 64-59 win over PSAL power Cardozo yesterday at St. John’s, scoring 20 points as he continues to show why most observers consider him to have such a bright future.
In other games at the Crotty Classic, Lawrence Woodmere beat Bishop Ford, 65-52 and St. Patrick’s (N.J.) defeated Paterson Catholic (N.J.), 57-52.
dan.martin@nypost.com