Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop Stepinac Showcase Nation’s Top Sophomores

Posted

The top two high school boys basketball teams in the archdiocese—Cardinal Hayes and Archbishop Stepinac—will be meeting on Friday in White Plains.

Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. and will follow the freshman game at 4 p.m. and the junior varsity game at 5:30 p.m.

The three games are sold out. No tickets will be available at the door.

Cardinal Hayes and Archbishop Stepinac are two of the top CHSAA teams in the state this season with Cardinal Hayes winning a close contest earlier this season, 70-67. 

Cardinal Hayes, the state's No. 1 Class AA team in the New York State Sportswriters Association poll, is ranked nationally by MaxPreps at No. 6 and by ESPN at No. 15. 

Cardinal Hayes is coming off a 72-51 victory over Mount St. Michael Academy on Tuesday. The Cardinals are led by 6-foot-5-inch small forward Ian Jackson, who is rated the fourth-best high school sophomore in the nation by ESPN.

Cardinal Hayes will play at Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn on Sunday before having a showdown at St. Francis Prep of Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Feb. 6. St. Francis Prep ranks third in the state sportswriters association poll.

Archbishop Stepinac, which was in the national polls a few weeks back, is ranked eighth in the Class AA poll by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

The Crusaders, winners of five consecutive games since a 62-60 loss to Mount St. Michael Jan. 11, defeated Archbishop Molloy, 68-53, on Tuesday.

Stepinac is led by 6-foot-2 point guard Johnuel Fland, who is ranked 13th among the top sophomore players in the nation by ESPN.

The Crusaders will host St. Peter’s on Sunday afternoon.