High School Fridays: Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons @ Catholic Central (boys basketball), 12/28/18

When the late Rich Gilooly played for Catholic Central in the 90's, there was still a Big 10 in high school basketball, and one can imagine Monsignor Burns Gym was packed to the rafters for every home game, for both boys & girls.

Nearly 20 years after Gilooly graduated, nearly 2 since he'd passed away, his alma mater hosted the first holiday basketball tournament in his honor. In an ironic twist, the Crusaders' opponent would be the school that combines with Catholic Central to form Holy Trinity in football.

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons now plays in the Western Athletic Conference, and their record entering tonight was not that much better than Catholic Central's in the Colonial Council. The Golden Knights had three players not listed on their roster, per the program handed out by Catholic Central, and that oversight would cost the Crusaders dearly.

The Golden Knights came out of the gate like a house on fire. Rodney Parker, one of those players not on your program, and Todd Williamson did most of the damage as Bishop Gibbons ran out to a 26-4 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Catholic Central's Jackson Brown found the scoring boulevard, and led the Crusaders back into contention. However, Brown's shooting touch was running on empty by the fourth quarter, and he finished with 25 points, sharing high game honors with Parker. Jack Mattfield & Patrick Clinton each had 11, and Dan Callaghan added 10 before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Williamson finished with 22 points, and Lorenzo Marchiso added 13, as the Golden Knights, down by two headed into the final frame, pulled away to win the game, 76-65.

Anyone that came to the game expecting to see Bishop Gibbons' Nacier Hundley, one of Holy Trinity's star players, was disappointed, as Hundley was out with an injury.

Bishop Gibbons will next play Thomas Corcoran High of Syracuse, which ended Troy High's season opening five game winning streak with an 86-78 verdict. The game stats have not been made available to media outlets as of press time. What we do know is that Troy historically has had trouble when playing teams from Western New York or NYC & Long Island, which play a different kind of defense the Flying Horses and other Section II teams aren't accustomed to. Troy & Catholic Central will renew a dormant city rivalry in the consolation game. The two teams have not met on the hardwood since 2015.
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In other action. LaSalle won a non-league twilight game over Nichols, 53-35. Again, game stats have not been made available to media outlets at press time for the second straight week. Apparently, the sports information department went on vacation during the Mohawks hockey tournament.....