Nash/Pigott CHSSA Bracket Championship

<p>The Nash/ Pigott side of the bracket produced excellent games and individual performances. St. Francis Prep coming off of a Tournament win at the Island Garden event. Stepinac who played a 2 game series vs LUHI. Stepinac also beat Iona Prep 4 times in the Brother Stoldt series. They would play Cardinal Hayes and Xaverian in the final four. All four of these teams had their teams primed this year for legitimate chances of winning a CHSSA Title before Covid wrecked havoc on the season. Here are the results and the players who excelled.</p> <p><strong>Nash/Pigott Bracket</strong></p> <p><strong>Final Four</strong></p> <p><strong>Cardinal Hayes.    60    St. Francis Prep 57</strong></p> <p><strong>Xaverian.            57    Stepinac.            53</strong></p> <p><strong>Championship Game </strong></p> <p><strong>Cardinal Hayes.    70    Xaverian     66</strong></p> <p><strong>Champion   </strong><strong>Cardinal Hayes</strong></p> <p><strong>St. Francis Prep’s Todd Rochelle</strong> did everything he could to help the Terriers get another tournament championship. Todd has been written up a lot and he deserves it. A winning player. With an extraordinary skill set to go along with knowing what it takes to win. He has a high basketball IQ, great court awareness. His whole arsenal was on display in the semi final OT loss to Cardinal Hayes. He can score at all three levels. A D1 talent. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1046839" first="Chance" last="Morrish"] </strong>is a extremely quick guard who can shoot it. Good lift on his jumper and the ball comes out with good rotation. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1136571" first="Jonathan" last="Medley"] </strong>can play on the wing and is a good interior defender. A sneaky three point shooter. Very active gets his team extra possessions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1045941" first="Latiek" last="Briscoe"] and Josh Pascarelli </strong>showed they are ready for bigger roles next year, with the graduation of Todd Rochelle. Pascarelli is a tremendous shooter from beyond the arc. Scores in transition and rebounds well from the guard spot. Constantly moving without the ball.  Briscoe rebounds well also and has the ability to blow by defenders. Drains the three ball.</p> <p><strong>Stepinac </strong>was probably the favorite to win the Chsaa championship if we had played a regular season. Also a legitimate shot at a state title. This league is still one of the best in the country. It is a battle every night. Adrian Griffin the future Duke Blue Devil did not play in any games for Stepinac. But they are more then one guy. This is an extremely talented bunch who will continue to be a major force in the chsaa. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="945516" first="Malcolm" last="Chimezie"] </strong>might be the only player who might have a easier freshman year in college then in his high school senior season. Constantly doubled and tripled in the post. He is as good as a passer out of the post at the high school level as I have seen. A force in the interior. Can score 15 feet and in. A tremendous rebounder. <strong>Isiah Alexander</strong> scores in a variety of ways and gets his hands in on deflections. The transfer is ready for the spotlight next year. <strong>Johnuel “Boogie “ Fland</strong> possibly the best freshman in the state. Excellent skill set. An offensive threat from every spot on the floor. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1125584" first="Samuel" last="Gibbs"] </strong>is as steady as they come. Coach has to feel very comfortable with the ball in his hands. An excellent shooter and real good at being a coach on the floor. <strong>Senior Josh Zangerle </strong>a really good shooter does a lot of good things on the court. Will be playing at Johnson and Wales a real good get for them. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1046820" first="Joel" last="Baez"] </strong>has been good everytime I see him. A nice mid range game plus the ability to get to the rim. A player to be excited about next year.</p> <p><strong>Xaverian </strong>relied heavily on their big 5 seniors. <strong>Myles Province </strong>strong bodied guard who defends and battles  every possession. A tremendous leader  and explosive first step. Hard to take off the ball.<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="1048403" first="Jaden" last="Pena"] </strong>good post defender alters shots. Scores around the rim. Showed he can handle the ball in the open floor. <strong>Matt Gonzalez </strong>seems to know where the ball is going to end up. A ball hawk and really good shooter from the perimeter, has a nice release. Even though they lost in the final they had two of the most impressive players in the tournament. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="945523" first="Shawn" last="Fulcher"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1047657" first="Nick" last="Folk"] </strong>at times look like the Harlen Globetrotters with the way they can handle the ball and other times look like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. They showed their tremendous skill set. Crossovers, split defenders , step back threes , stop on the the dime twos and explosive first step they have it all. Both are legitimate D1 guards. </p> <p><strong>Cardinal Hayes </strong>won it all. Coach Lods told me each time we spoke “we’re a little rusty but we’ll be ok”.  They got the rust off real quick. <strong>D J Victory</strong> a prototypical New York point guard, Explosive with the ball in his hands. Fast going coast to coast. Strong with the ball in transition or setting up in the halfcourt. Head is always up looking to make a play. Showed he can shoot the pull up jumper but is also elusive with the ball in his hand and scoring off the bounce.<strong> Mykel Kelly(2022) </strong>not one of the more recognized name on this roster but he had a very nice tournament. A very active player around the rim. Long player who can catch the ball in traffic. Does good work on the boards and keeping possessions alive and scores with put backs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1195565" first="Eric" last="Mejia"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1195555" first="Ian" last="Jackson"]</strong> a duo from the class of 2024 were spectacular. Both players are explosive to the rim. Very confident players with a elite level skill set. Will be major forces for Cardinal Hayes moving forward. <strong>Tariek Foster</strong> showed flashes of brilliance. But in the championship he was downright scary. Scoring every which way. Rebounding the ball. Making the big blocks. A superior talent rose up in the biggest game. We will see this many more times in the rest of his high school career. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1136568" first="Tobe" last="Awaka"] </strong>(pictured) is a hard player to stop when he gets the ball in the post. Very capable of scoring other ways as well. A defensive presence in the post. Has a potent jump hook over the right shoulder. Can catch, rebound and score the ball in traffic. A 4.0 GPA off the court has the ivys in on him. More schools need to get involved.   </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>