As the fourth quarter started on Friday, January 2 at St. John the Baptist High School, Chaminade chased its second league win while Kyle Dillon chased history.

At the 6:27 mark - with the Flyers up just three points - Dillon spun left in the lane and banked home a layup to put him over 1,000 points for his high-school career. 

"It's funny; I knew coming into the game I was 18 points away from 1K, but I did my best to keep my mind off it because I wanted to make sure we got the win first, especially against a league opponent," Dillon explained. "It definitely resembles a lot of the hard work and the amount of time me and my family have put into this passion for basketball. It also allowed me to really look back and reflect on my journey - with all the ups and downs that have come with it, and most importantly, all the teammates I've had to push me in practice and the coaches always on my back to keep working."

"I'm proud of him and happy for him," added Chaminade head coach Dan Feeney. "He spent all of his sophomore year on the varsity team trying to fit in, and now he's starting to take over, and that doesn't mean shooting the ball every single time … but really picking his spots and being selective. He's an outstanding teammate and a great leader."

"It shows how his hard work finally paid off," said Lucas Dillon, Kyle's younger brother and teammate. "I remember he would be outside in our driveway for multiple hours a day just working on his game."

Kyle has been spectacular so far this season - averaging just under 20 points and just over five rebounds per game - but his teammates have been just as good. This "collection of parts," as Feeney described it, went 6-1 over Christmas break in what was arguably the most difficult stretch of the whole season. 

"I think the fact that our scoring is so unpredictable will help us in the long run," said the senior Dillon. "Knowing there aren't one or two guys we need to score 20-plus to win a game has been a huge difference from last year."

In the first league game of the campaign on December 20 against St. Mary's, it was Michael Wede's time to shine. Facing a 13-point deficit right off the tip, Wede brought the Flyers back with a remarkable 28-point performance that was headlined by six three-pointers. His efforts - along with a few big-time plays by Jake Ellwood - sealed the 67-61 come-from-behind victory. 

"I started off the season a little slow from beyond the three-point arc, but it's just my coaches and teammates pushing me and letting me know to keep shooting the ball and that it's going to fall," remarked the sharpshooter. "Today, I saw it go in."

Throughout this stretch, the Flyers focused on finding ways to win. On December 21 against McQuaid Jesuit from Rochester, the Crimson and Gold did it defensively, holding the Knights to just 32 points on 27% shooting en route to a 24-point win. 

After a few days off for Christmas, it was time to play in the Governors Challenge in Salisbury, Maryland. 

The Flyers have had varying degrees of success in past tournaments. Last season, they won the Christian Brothers Academy Tournament in Albany and went 1-1 in the Hoophall Invitational in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was the latter event, though, that Feeney later felt was the beginning of the Flyers' end-of-season collapse.

"We went there and we were like, 'Let's get a game,' and we got a game. Those days are over," Feeney told his team before its matchup with the Miller School. "In hindsight, our season ended when we were getting ready for that second game in Springfield."

Determined to prevent that from happening again, the Flyers came out aggressively, but the Mavericks matched their intensity. As the third quarter melted into the fourth, the Mavs stormed ahead by eight thanks to an 11-0 run. 

Fortunately for the Flyers, they saved their best ball for last, roaring back from seven down in the last two minutes. With the final buzzer just seconds away, the elder Dillon dropped in the game-tying layup to send the contest to overtime.

In the extra session, it was all Flyers. Nicholas Sweeney (14 points) contributed with his best game as a member of the varsity squad, sinking several big buckets to secure yet another comeback victory. 

"I've been coming off the bench all year, trying to provide a spark … and get our offense going," Sweeney said. "Today, we got the job done."

Twenty-four hours later, the Flyers faced Canada's Lincoln Prep with a chance to bring home Governors Challenge glory. Like many games in the opening month of the season, the Flyers fell behind, but this time they couldn't recover, and the Huskies pulled away in an 84-58 romp. 

In spite of this defeat, the experience provided a lesson for the Flyers. 

"We learned how to compete," explained Feeney. "That's a long learning process. It's not something you figure out in November and just do it forever."

Upon their return from the Delmarva Peninsula, the Flyers shifted their sights back to the league slate as they visited the St. John the Baptist Cougars. While Dillon's achievement of 1,000 career points was certainly the highlight of the night, a victory made the day even sweeter for the Crimson and Gold. Although the Flyers were met with a feisty effort from the underdog Cougars (Kenji Etkins and Justus Gales combined for 40 points), a 9-0 Chaminade run to start the fourth was just enough for the squad to secure its second league win.

It may not have been the cleanest game for the Flyers, as they committed 14 turnovers, but Feeney was happy his squad escaped with the W:

"Something that we've learned over the years … is that we're going to get everybody's best punch in the league," he reflected. "It's a road game in the league; I don't care what the final score is; just get the win."

Friday night in West Islip represented the first of three straight gamedays for the Flyers. On Saturday, they welcomed the St. Raymond's Ravens to Chaminade's Activity-Athletic Center as part of the Gary Charles Tip of the Hat Classic.

At the 3:20 mark of the third quarter, the Flyers found themselves down 13. To most teams, this would be the beginning of the end, but Chaminade fought its way off the ropes. As they've done all season, they battled back, using a remarkable 26-5 burst to pull ahead for good. Diego Dersch was named the Player of the Game, dropping a career-high 19 points in a 60-51 triumph. 

One last day of Christmas break - and the Tip of the Hat Classic - remained, and that meant a date with Holy Cross. Last year's matchup between the two sides was a blowout in favor of the Knights, but this year's edition couldn't have gone much differently. 

Chaminade held the lead for much of the contest, and with 12 seconds left, an "and-one" by the younger Dillon put his team in a position to win. However, a last-second free throw by Holy Cross sent the contest to overtime. 

Usually, one session of overtime is enough, but this time, a second session was needed. With the game hanging in the balance, Wede drilled a huge three and reeled in a clutch rebound to finish off a signature win for Chaminade.

Although Wede was the overtime hero, it was the sophomore Dillon who was named Player of the Game - a recognition of his near triple-double effort: 26 points, seven boards, and nine assists.

With the gauntlet of these games behind them, the Flyers now sit at 9-3 as league play gets into full swing. The next week brings even more challenges, with Holy Trinity, St. Anthony's, and St. Dominic's looming on the calendar. Regardless, with a 2-0 record in the league and a bunch of quality wins already under their belts, the boys from Jackson Avenue appear ready to soar.