As the shot clock expired with 6:15 to go in the fourth quarter, Melo Mojeed Jr. drained a contested three-pointer from the right wing for the St. Dominic's Bayhawks, sending their fans into a frenzy and putting an exclamation mark on his team's 83-63 victory over the Flyers on January 14. With the victory, the Hawks claimed sole possession of first place in the NSCHSAA and snapped Chaminade's six-game winning streak. 

"They played better than us in every aspect of the game," said Chaminade head coach Dan Feeney. "They shot the ball well, rebounded well, played tougher than us, and they deserved to win today."

Before the heavyweight bout with the Bayhawks, Chaminade took on the St. Mary's Gaels four days earlier in a Friday night showdown. The Flyers entered Friday's affair in the midst of a five-game winning streak, one which had upped their overall record to 7-3.

This streak included back-to-back impressive victories in the Gary Charles Hoop Classic against well-rounded city teams Monsignor Scanlan and Bishop Loughlin. The Flyers also sported a 2-0 record in league play after wins over Holy Trinity and Kellenberg. 

As for the Gaels, they owned a 3-6 overall record preceding Friday's matchup. Off to a slow start in league play with an 0-2 mark, St. Mary's first suffered a blowout loss to St. Anthony's before falling in a nail-biter to Kellenberg. 

After a slow start, the Flyers found their footing, thanks to relentless play down low by Gregory Wyckoff and Peter Tagios III. The phenomenal Flyer forwards racked up close to 10 rebounds in the first quarter alone, with Wyckoff securing four offensive boards on a single possession.

This strong paint presence by the two big men allowed the home team to open up a 25-13 lead after the first quarter. 

The second quarter featured fast-paced action, with the teams going jab-for-jab. The Flyers' lead was as great as 13 near the halfway point of the quarter. Then, Myles Herbert took over for St. Mary's. The junior guard was locked in, knocking down shots left and right and cutting the lead to six in the process; he finished the opening half with 13.

However, Chaminade responded quickly. Ricky Gunther and Michael Wede each buried three-pointers, and the tandem of Wyckoff and Tagios continued to cause problems for the Gaels. After a wild quarter of action, the Flyers led 48-35 at intermission.

The Flyers played strong team basketball in the first half, with eight players breaking into the scoring column - further evidence of a team chemistry which has seemingly skyrocketed in recent weeks.

The third quarter seemed like a copy-and-paste of the second, as the fast tempo and back-and-forth action continued. Gunther and Wede continued their strong play from the previous frame, while the Gaels were able to keep pace. Herbert continued to lead the way, while Justin Mompoint and Andrew John also began stepping up. 

Gunther stole the show in the third quarter, using his unmatched slashing ability to pile up the points. His and-one put an exclamation point on the quarter for the Flyers as they pushed the score to 74-57.

The Gaels started the final frame with fury. Mompoint and Caleb Coleman were lethal from downtown, shrinking the 17-point deficit to a mere eight with six minutes to play.

With every attempt by St. Mary's to cut the deficit further, there came a response from Chaminade. Many of these efforts were spearheaded by Kyle Dillon, who cashed a pair of clutch threes and added a late layup to keep the Flyers comfortably in front. The junior guard notched 19 points to lead the Flyers in scoring on their way to an 86-75 victory in the offensive shootout.

"It comes back to practice, and we get shots up everyday after practice, so I think the work, you know, it added up, and I was able to knock them down," said Dillon regarding his big-time threes.

Each of the four other Flyer starters finished in double digits to complement Dillon's 19. On the other side of the timeline, the Gaels were piloted by Herbert and Mompoint, who each contributed a game-high 20 points. 

Following the victory, the Flyers enjoyed a few days off before hitting the road on Tuesday for the high-stakes matchup in Oyster Bay against the Bayhawks. The two teams entered the game tied atop the league standings with identical 3-0 records. 

Entering the tilt, the Flyers knew they needed to watch out for the aforementioned Mojeed Jr. The Bayhawks' star junior guard was averaging a remarkable 22.9 points per game prior to Tuesday's matchup, good enough to rank first in the NSCHSAA and 10th on Long Island. 

The energy in the gym was palpable during pregame warmups, and this continued into the first quarter.

The offenses were on point early, evident by the 21-19 score in favor of the home team, and nearly everyone who touched the floor in the opening frame made contributions. The Bayhawks were paced by an early 11 points from Brandon Torres, who was dialed in from beyond the arc. As for the Flyers, their scoring was much more spread out, with Gunther, Tagios, and Dillon leading the attack. 

The Bayhawks began to pull away in the second frame as their lead grew as high as 14. Cameron Obijuru and Torres continued the hot shooting from downtown for St. Dom's, and Christian Thomas added an old-fashioned three-point play to electrify the home crowd.

The Bayhawks were also dominating on the glass, picking up numerous points on second-chance opportunities. They led at the halftime break, 45-33.

The Bayhawks' control of the painted area was one of the major storylines of the game, something head coach Isaiah Wilson made clear was no accident:

"We have an identity," he admitted. "We want to dominate the paint every game, and we did that really well today."

Gunther was the silver lining for Chaminade, netting 15 of his team's 33 first-half points to further his recent stretch of outstanding play. 

The Bayhawks were able to keep their lead for much of the third quarter as the Flyers continued to struggle. Thomas dominated in the low post, and an Adam Jerome breakaway layup forced Feeney to call a timeout. 

Despite being down 19, a quick 7-0 burst from the opposition made the Bayhawks sweat. Gunther and Dillon, the two scoring leaders, headlined this charge, bringing their Flyers back into the game. 

However, the deficit proved too great for Chaminade, and they could not complete a comeback. 

The 20-point victory moved the Bayhawks to 11-3 (4-0) on the season. Chaminade fell to 8-4 (3-1) with the defeat. Mojeed led in the scoring department for the Bayhawks with 21, and Torres accompanied him with 20 of his own. 

Gunther, who registered the game-high point total with 25, has now posted at least 20 points in five of the past six games. Dillon added 18 points, continuing his recent stretch of strong play for the Flyers. 

Next up for Chaminade is the Hoophall Invitational at Pope Francis Prep in Springfield, Massachusetts, taking place this weekend. The Flyers will face Bishop Hendricken High School from Rhode Island on Saturday before playing either Pope Francis Prep or New London High School from Connecticut on Sunday. The team will also tour the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the weekend's festivities. 

The Flyers have generally bounced back well following losses this season, and this is a trend they surely hope continues this weekend as they look to return to their winning ways in the Birthplace of Basketball.