Shining Bully Rips Through Upstate With Explosive Outburst - Seton Catholic Dominates
A nail-biting win for the No. 2-ranked Seton Catholic Central as the Saints advance to their first NYSPHSAA Class AA boys basketball semifinals.
East Syracuse-Minoa stepped onto the court at Visions Veterans FCU Arena seemingly unbothered by the sea of green and loud cheers from the Seton-Catholic supporters that seemingly filled the arena. Freshman guard Angelo O’Connor sank a three-pointer from deep corner–the first of several made threes throughout the night–to put up the first three points in the Saints’ 12-0 run in the first quarter. Seton-Catholic’s defensive rebounding and unrelenting defense kept East Syracuse-Minoa scoreless until senior guard Anthony Bryant fought his way to the Spartans’ first bucket.
East Syracuse-Minoa curbed any offensive fluidity for Seton-Catholic from the back court, forcing the Saints to pull players to half-court to break the Spartans’ high-court pressure. Another three-pointer from O’Connor, followed by a three-pointer from senior Allan Eagles, forced East Syracuse Minoa to take their second timeout of the first quarter. Carrying the heat of the moment and the shot connection from behind the arc, senior guard Brian Dempsey hit another three-pointer coming out of the timeout to send the arena into an uproar, putting the score at 26-10 in favor of Seton-Catholic to end the 1st quarter.
More: Recap of Section 4 final winners in Class AA, A, and B East Syracuse-Minoa held the Saints to a 9-point second quarter despite the Saints’ making another three to start the second, and having gone 4-for-5 from the three-point line. Several tussles for defensive rebounds from Eagles limited the Spartans’ opportunities for second-chance shots, ultimately putting the Spartans at a 35-19 deficit to crawl back from heading into the second half. …and crawl back they did.
Bryant had his best quarter of the night in the third, scoring 10 of the Spartans’ 20 points in the quarter. As shots began to connect for East Syracuse, the team’s defense became even tighter and its offensive rebounding more aggressive. The Spartans pulled the deficit to 51-39 to end the 3rd quarter.