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St. Raymond’s tops a game Holy Cross, 72-51

By Dylan Butler

Before one field goal was scored, St. Raymond's star Gavin Grant was on the bench in foul trouble. He'd soon be joined by starting point guard Wesley Wicks and before long even backup point guard Rich Jackson had two fouls.

The opportunity was there for the Holy Cross basketball team.

But the Knights missed critical early layups and Brian Laing kept the Ravens in the game, scoring 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to lead No. 15 St. Raymond’s to a 72-51 win Tuesday night.

“When we’re ahead of teams we’re very tough to play against because we have so many kids who can handle the ball and we’re hard to guard,” said Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary said. “But when we’re losing, we have to keep taking it to them and St. Raymond’s is obviously very good defensively. They’re very big, they’re very long.”

While the rest of his teammates struggled or were in foul trouble early, Laing was solid. The 6-foot-5 Seton Hall-signee muscled his way to 15 of the Ravens 21 points midway through the second quarter to insure St. Ray’s led 34-28 at the half.

“I’ll be the happiest guy in New York when Brian Laing graduates because we have had no luck with him,” Gilvary said. “He’s just a terrific player and I have all the respect in the world for him. If someone knows how to guard him they should give me a call.”

After trailing by 11 in the first half, Holy Cross (8-3, 1-1 CHSAA) used its speed to stay in the game and got within 34-30 on a 16-foot jumper by Joseph Connor. Michael Johnson scored 19 points — most by getting to the basket — and dished out seven assists and Kevin Ogletree added 11 points, eight in the first half.

Knights leading scorer Gordon McKenzie, who came into the game averaging 15 points per game, was held to nine points while saddled with foul trouble.

“The thing that bothered me the most was that we got into foul trouble. Usually when we get into foul trouble we try not to play too aggressive because you don’t want to get fouled out,” Johnson said. “Early in the game we were putting a lot of pressure on the ball, but then we kind of backed up a little bit and let them breathe a little bit too much.”

But the Knights had no answer for St. Raymond’s inside and 6-foot-5 Chris Bethel scored on back-to-back putbacks to put the Ravens ahead, 38-30. Grant, who will attend North Carolina State in the fall, scored all 14 of his points in the second half as St. Raymond's (7-1, 4-0 CHSAA) dominated the glass to the tune of nine offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.

After a block by Laing, Ricky Torres nailed his second three pointer of the game to cap a 10-2 run to give the Ravens an insurmountable 56-41 lead 45 seconds into the fourth quarter.

“I thought we did a better job in the second half of attacking the basket and playing a little better,” said St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua. “(In the second half) our guys did a great job executing. I thought defensively we tightened up a bit and stopped giving up easy baskets.”

Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.