CHSAA Spotlight Game

<p>Stepinac travelled to Queens to take on Molloy in a AA matchup. Stepinac came away with a hard earned victory 68-53.<br /> Basketball is a great game to watch especially when the ball is moving from side to side. Players cutting to the rim. It’s even more fun when a team of multiple weapons and individual talent realize to share the ball is the single most important factor to winning. <strong>Stepinac </strong>showed that understanding of a team first concept. At the same time being able to display their individual athleticism and talents.</p> <p>Every night it seems that someone stands out, at the same time every night they get super consistency from their rotation. On Tuesday night 6”6 sophomore <strong>Braylan</strong><strong> Ritvo </strong>led the charge. In a close first half Braylan was able to nail a couple of threes when it seemed like Molloy was getting some confidence. He has a nice looking jumper from behind the line or mid range. No wasted motion and very fluid.  Showed toughness on the boards. Also displayed a euro step in the open floor. Finishing with 20 points and 6 rebounds. He also was solid defensively getting 2 steals and a block. Freshman guard <strong>Danny Carbuccia </strong>was strong on the ball. He showed active hands. He was able to get into the lane and show off his one dribble pull up or a little scoop layup with his left hand. Danny finished with 14 points and 3 rebounds. Many nights <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1195554" first="Johnuel" last="“Boogie” Fland"] </strong> 2024 leads the way. On this night he didn’t lead them in scoring but his game was on full display. Boogie is a scorer at all three levels. He drilled threes off the catch, got to the basket and his pull up in the lane is exceptional. Very strong off the bounce. Has great vision finding the open man underneath. <strong>Ben Lyttle </strong>2023 had 6 points and 8 rebounds. Ben is a patient scorer inside. Off of rebounds or a pass he stays poised underneath takes his time and scores the ball. He possesses a head and shoulder fake let’s the defender commit and then he scores right through him. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1046820" first="Joel" last="Baez"] </strong>and <strong>Isiah Alexander </strong>two seniors both chipped in 5 points. In the first half Joel did a great job on the offensive boards swooping in from the high post. Isiah uses his length to defend and rebound. Once again as I’ve seen many times senior guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1125584" first="Samuel" last="Gibbs"] </strong>was unflappable. He scored 5 points and had 10 assists. He sees the play before it develops. It seems like he knows what he’s going to do with the ball before he gets it.<span style="font-size: 1rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"> Always ready with hands out in triple threat. Has a nice shot fake jumper. Has excellent vision. He is also outstanding near the end of the shot clock. Coach on the floor.</span></p> <p><strong>Molloy </strong>kept the game close early. Thanks to the shooting of senior <strong>John McCabe. </strong>He is a strong guard handling the ball. Very aggressive driving off the bounce. He has good elevation on a pull up jumper and can also drain threes. <strong>Jayden James </strong>has continued his strong play from the spring and summer. He runs the floor, has good elevation on his shot, can finish with either hand around the rim. Battled on the glass. He also showed some expanded range. He is becoming a complete player, quickly. Jayden is a player to watch throughout this campaign and next year. Another 2023 player is Kuba Cwalina. A catch and shoot player. He knows how to relocate to the open spot to drill threes. <br /> <span style="font-size: 1rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br /> It was another typical night in the CHSAA. Two teams playing hard who know each other very well. On any given night in the city you are seeing 10-15 future college players in each game,compete.</span></p>