Boys basketball: Stepinac slowed down by The Patrick School in NY-NJ Catholic showcase

NEW ROCHELLE - The final possession was rife with frustration. And, on a night where shots just weren't falling for Stepinac, it might've been the perfect — albeit unwelcome — ending.

The Crusaders, after scrambling to set up the initial play, had three shot attempts at the winning basket. One was blocked and two rimmed out as time expired in an atypical 33-32 loss to The Patrick School.

Junior Ben Lyttle had a shot blocked, then sophomore Boogie Fland missed a long 3-pointer. Senior Sam Gibbs leaped for the rebound and rushed a shot in midair that just rimmed out at the buzzer.

They were the final three misses in a game where Stepinac shot just 22.7% (10 of 44).

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"Honestly, whether I make or miss shots, whether we make shots or not, all we care about is the dub and that wasn't done today," Fland said after his third game back from injury. "So I'm just disappointed in that end."

It was the nightcap of the five-game NJ vs. NY Catholic School Showcase at Iona College's Hynes Center — an event pitting five of New Jersey's top Catholic teams against five of the best from New York.

St. Raymond and Iona Prep fell in the two opening games, although Iona Prep senior R.J. Greene finished with 16 points, including the 1,000th of his career. Christ the King and Cardinal Hayes rallied to win the next two with strong fourth quarters.

"From an event standpoint, it was great for us, great for the local community," Stepinac coach Pat Massaroni said. "Three really good games and obviously Jersey went out with a 3-2 victory. The fourth one, with Iona, was right there with the lead with four or five minutes to play."

Massaroni said he hoped the event will continue next season, on one side of the river or the other.

"We talked to all the schools about trying to make this annual. It's obviously has to be in a good location, a good environment," Massaroni said. "There's been some talk about playing in Jersey next year. We'll talk about the pros and cons, but we'd love to do this annually."

The event, which drew large crowds to the 2,500-seat arena, also attracted coaches from several Division I programs, including UConn, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Fordham, FDU, Marist, Columbia and Siena. Iona had a full contingent on hand, including several players and coach Rick Pitino, who sat courtside for a stretch of the Stepinac-Patrick School game.

But the guard-heavy Crusaders, who rely on their outside shooting, struggled to generate offense against The Patrick School's zone defense.

"We shot so poorly because we were taking bad shots and long-distance shots," Massaroni said. "We didn't execute what we said we were going to do in the scouting report."

Stepinac finally pulled in front late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Fland, then the teams swapped leads in the fourth. Freshman Danny Carbuccia handed his team a three-point edge, but the game was tied 30-30 seconds later on a 3-pointer by Isaia Griffen.

Stepinac regained the lead, 32-31, on Isaiah Alexander's turnaround jumper from the right elbow with 1:20 to play. After each team had a defensive stop, Griffen tipped in a miss to give his team the lead for good at the 25-second mark.

The lone bright spot for the Crusaders might've been seeing Fland play nearly 26 minutes. The sophomore, who is the No. 12-ranked player in his class according to ESPN, missed the first 12 games while recovering from a back injury.

"I'm just trying to get back in shape," Fland said after scoring a game-high 12 points. "I'm trying to get with my team, our chemistry, all of that. I'm not necessarily a selfish person. I'm not worried about how I played. I'm worried about the team and we didn't get the dub so I'm disappointed."

Fland and the Crusaders have three league games this week, including Friday's 7:30 p.m. home rematch with undefeated Cardinal Hayes, the No. 1-ranked team in the state, and Ian Jackson, the fourth-ranked sophomore in the country.

Josh Thomson is the Sports Editor for The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Stepinac falls to The Patrick School in NJ vs. NY Catholic Showcase