With 3:10 to go in the fourth quarter, the Knights' Dylan Stanley intercepted a pass from Colin Courtney and sprinted the other way. With Courtney the only defender back for Chaminade, Stanley had a one-on-one to the basket. At the left block, he skied towards the rim, finished a layup over the Flyers forward, and drew a foul in the process to put an exclamation point on the Knights' 67-38 victory on Friday night in Flushing.
"Dylan played great today," said Holy Cross head coach Billy Turnage after his center's 11-point outing. "He is our senior leader. We expect him to set the tone, and he did exactly that today."
The Knights stormed out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first few minutes of the contest. The size of Holy Cross proved challenging for the Flyers, as Knights forward Payton Wilson had an early five points, while Stanley added a bucket of his own.
Holy Cross continued to find production from the frontcourt, as Keiji Clifton buried a three and Stanley drained an easy deuce to give the Green and Yellow a 12-2 edge.
With three minutes to go in the first quarter, the Crimson and Gold started to inch closer, as Kyle Dillon and Ricky Gunther combined for three layups to make the score 14-8.
Both teams traded threes in the final two minutes of the frame, and Holy Cross took a 19-12 lead to the second.
It was another quick start to a quarter for the Knights, as they went on a 5-0 run to begin the period and force a Chaminade timeout.
After breaking the huddle, Holy Cross pushed the lead to 16. Clifton sank two more threes, increasing his total for the night to four.
Over the next two minutes, Chaminade clawed back, as the Flyers' leading scorer in the first half, Michael Wede, had his own 6-0 run to help cut the deficit to 34-24 at halftime.
The third quarter opened with more of The Clifton Show, as the 6 '5 junior hit two more from downtown to bring his total to 18 points on the night.
"Keiji played extremely well today; that is what he does," added Turnage after the game. "He is one of the best shooters in the city - if not the best."
As time continued to tick off the scoreboard, the Holy Cross lead continued to grow. With 3:24 to go in the third, the advantage was stretched to 17 after a Matt Marchesini three-pointer, forcing another Chaminade timeout.
The frustrated Flyers were looking for a spark, but they couldn't find it, and the Knights took a 50-32 lead into the final frame.
Chaminade continued to try to attack from downtown, and two threes hit within the quarter's first two minutes - one from James Prendergast and another from Dillon - pulled the Flyers to within 15 as they tried to mount a comeback.
The Knights wouldn't let that happen, however, as the Green and Yellow put together an electric 14-0 run to close the game and secure the win, 67-38.
"We played really well today," said Turnage, pleased with his team's performance. "The big guys set the tone and controlled the boards, which really helped us."
Dropping to 2-3 on the season, the Flyers now transition their focus to the Christian Brothers Academy Tournament, which takes place in Albany on December 27 and 28. This road trip gives the Crimson and Gold a chance to turn their season around after an uneven start to the campaign.
"We have to find a way to win two games up there and come back above .500, because the chunk of the season starts in January. These next two are vital to spark us forward," said Dillon. "The focus has to be all about us during this two-game stretch, not about the tournament itself."
His head coach echoed much of this sentiment:
"This trip is a welcomed experience for our team," said head coach Dan Feeney. "We get to spend three full days together and play high-level competition."
Chaminade will open the weekend against Christian Brothers Academy at 7 p.m. on Friday before playing a yet-to-be-determined opponent the next day.
"To have success, we need to come out with a better intensity and a higher level of physicality from the opening tip," said Feeney. "We are looking forward to it and grateful to the school's administration for aiding our program by supporting us with two overnight trips this season."
