(Brandon Smith led Park with a game-high 24 points against Timon/Photo: Larry Scheur)
Class A
(1) Canisius 79, (4) St. Francis 56
The Crusaders wasted little time taking firm control against St. Francis, reaching a double figure lead midway through the opening quarter. Ryan Bradley scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the opening frame, Brendan Trapper netted 11 points in the second stanza, Austin James drilled four 3-pointers on the evening and also registered 21 points, and Jayce Johnson & Nick MacDonald each finished with 10 points. It is the fourth consecutive Manhattan Cup Final appearance for head coach Kyle Husband's team and their 9th in 10 seasons. They have won the last three titles and seven since 2009.
Canisius 23 - 22 - 15 - 19 = 79
St. Francis 8 - 10 - 14 - 24 = 56
Point Totals
Canisius: Ryan Bradley 21, Austin James 21 , Brendan Trapper 13, Nick MacDonald 10, Jayce Johnson 10, Joe Jamison 4
St. Francis: Justin Poumpey 16, Dorion Ivey 11, Bo Sireika 10, Traevone Scott 6 , Lucas Theisen 5 , Josh Palmer 3, Amiel Collins 3, David Bartholomew 2
****** ****** ****** ******
(2) Park 67, (3) Timon 58
Tied at 30-30 entering the final minute of the first half, Brandon Smith banged a pair of treys to give the Pioneers a six-point edge at the break. After halftime, it was all Pioneers. Park held Timon scoreless until the final second of the third quarter when a foul was called on a step back 3-point attempt. The Pioneers still kept the Tigers from scoring a field goal in the frame, while taking a commanding 53-32 lead into the final stanza. Brandon Smith led the way with 24 points, while Dan Scott added 18 points in the win. The Pioneers advance to the Manhattan Cup Final to face Canisius for the second time in three seasons, looking to avenge a two-point title loss from 2016 and claim their first Class A Manhattan Cup. The teams split regular season meetings and have been ranked #1 & #2 in WNY all season.
Julian Cunningham led Timon with a game-high 25 points and went over the 1,000 point total for his career in the process, in just his junior season.
Park 15 - 21 - 17 - 14 = 67
Timon 15 - 15 - 2 - 25 = 58
Point Totals
Park: Brandon Smith 24, Dan Scott 18, Julian Eziukwu 7, Quentin Nnagbo 6, John Orogun 6, Noah Hutchins 4, Jaylen Stewart 2
Timon: Julian Cunningham 25, Alero World 10, Cullen Tonge 8, Tahron Goudelock 9, Master Radford 4
****** ****** ****** ******
Class B
(1) Cardinal O'Hara 54, (4) Nichols 46
Tied at 22-22 in a defensive battle at halftime, Nichols opened the second half looking like the team that had been to four consecutive Manhattan Cup Finals, winning two of them. The Vikings took a 32-27 lead three minutes into the third quarter and started believing it was their time to score their first win of the season over one of the league's top three. But O'Hara's senior point guard had other ideas.
Nasir Benton took the game over in the third frame, scoring 12 of his 21 points, including a pair of treys. His hot hand and confident play at the point sparked a defensive mindset in the Hawks. Over the next twelve minutes of the game, Nichols would manage just two scores from the field. Justin Hemphill finished with 12 points and Jaedin Cottman scored six of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, as O'Hara used a 22-3 run to take a 49-36 lead and advance to the program's first Manhattan Cup Final in 24 years and its first first shot at a Class B title since the new format began in 2015. The Hawks will face Niagara Catholic at 6 pm on Tuesday night at the Canisius College Koessler Center for the title and the right to advance to the CHSAA state championship game in Class B.
O'Hara 14 - 8 - 19 - 13 = 54
Nichols 10 - 12 - 13 - 11 = 46
Point Totals
O'Hara: Nasir Benton 21, Justin Hemphill 12 , Jaedin Cottman 10 , Jermaine Haynes 8, Brandon Broadnax 3
Nichols: Chris Stineman 14, Aidan Horan 9, TJ Banaszak 8, Jonathan Goodloe 6, Antonio Jones 6, Hugh Purks 3
****** ****** ****** ******
(3) Niagara Catholic 67, (2) St. Mary's 60
The Patriots got out to a strong start and won the first two quarters, building a 31-20 halftime lead. After the ten minute break, St. Mary's returned a more determined team and matched Niagara Catholic's intensity. Turning to senior Christian Szablewski, he delivered 16 of his game-high 34 points in the third quarter, as the Lancers came roaring back and tied things up at 43-43 on the last possession of the frame. After a 3-pointer by Matt Ciezki to open the final frame gave St. Mary's its first lead of the night, it looked as if the senior laden squad and defending champion that had swept Niagara Catholic in two regular season meetings would once again have their experience win out in crunch time.
In the best quarter of basketball the Manhattan Cup playoffs have produced through six games, it was the new kids on the block who would come through in the clutch. Jalen Bradberry canned his fifth 3-pointer of the night and earned a team-high 22 points. Jaemon Turner scored seven of his 17 points from the stripe in the fourth and Haakim Siner was once again the difference maker. The junior and double-double machine for Niagara Catholic delivered 10 of his 18 points in the final stanza to lead his team to its second Manhattan Cup Final in three seasons. Tuesday night's title game is also a rubber match after the Patriots split meetings with O'Hara in the regular season.
N.Catholic 14 - 17 - 12 - 24 = 67
St. Mary's 8 - 12 - 23 - 17 = 60
Point Totals
N. Catholic: Jalen Bradberry 22, Haakim Siner 18, Jaemon Turner 17, Raejuan Smith 6, Avion Harris 4
St. Mary's: Christian Szablewski 34, Matt Ciezki 8, Brady O'Brien 7, Eric Kegler 3, Jae'lin Russell 3, Frank Propis 2 , Kofi Osei 2, Jake Lukasik 1
-centercourt
Comments