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Sweet revenge: Holy Cross topples Stanners

By Dylan Butler

The senior on the Holy Cross basketball team walked out of the Briarwood school with a regular season ending 61-53 victory.”Basically it's all about respect,” Ogletree said. “That was kind of embarrassing when they came to our gym on our Alumni Night. It was our job to come out today and get a victory.”Eleven days earlier the all-time greatest players in the 50-year history of Holy Cross witnessed their alma mater's worst loss of the year, 74-55 to Molloy.And although Holy Cross (17-7, 6-5) was solidly entrenched in second place and had locked up a first round bye in the upcoming Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan playoffs, Ogletree and the Knights had revenge on their minds.”They really surprised us (the last time),” said Bradley Everett, who replaced an ill Anthony Clarke in the starting lineup for a third straight year. “We made adjustments in practice, put in a new offense against the zone. Working hard in practice helped get this win.”Molloy (12-12, 2-9) trailed by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter but were within two, 47-45, with 4:09 left – 25 seconds after Gordon McKenzie limped off the court after Molloy's Milan Prodanovic stepped on his left ankle, causing it to roll.With his best friend sidelined, albeit momentarily, Ogletree took control. He got a friendly bounce on huge 3-pointer from the top of the key and, after Michael Johnson scored on a layup, he dunked on the break after a McKenzie steal to cap a 7-0 run and increase the Knights' lead to 54-45 with 2:15 left.Ogletree, who signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of Virginia next year, scored 7 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 8 rebounds.Eleven days earlier, McKenzie was doing his best superman impersonation, playing in three quarters against Molloy before heading to – and winning – the boys' high school 60-meter dash at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden.This time, though, McKenzie's focus, and that of his teammates, was squarely on beating Molloy.”Last time we played Molloy, we were focused on a bunch of other things, we had a lot of other things going on in our minds,” McKenzie said. “We didn't play to the point we should have played at and we just tried to get them back here.”Everett paced Holy Cross early with 9 of his team-high 14 points in the first half. McKenzie and Laurence Jolicoeur scored 10 points apiece and Michael Johnson, the fourth senior starter for Holy Cross, had all 8 of his points in the second half.”I think last time there was too much distraction for them and it worked in our advantage. We played a high energy game, we were pretty good the last game,” Molloy coach Jack Curran said. “They did a good job defensively (today). They played a little more aggressively than we did.”In his final home game, senior Kenny Kelly led Molloy with 15 points, including his team's first 10 points of the game. Fellow senior George Kunkel added 8 points and 12 rebounds for the Stanners, which take on Xaverian Sunday in the first round of the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan playoffs at Bishop Ford.No. 6 Molloy, which came into the game having won three of its last four, beat third-seeded Xaverian, which played without Pittsburgh-bound Levance Fields, 58-41 Feb. 1.”I'm happy not to be playing Sunday,” Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary said. “All four teams playing Sunday are very good teams and really any two of the four of them can come out of that so I'll enjoy having a day off and watching it.”Sacred Heart 72, Cathedral Prep 67. Mike Liander had 36 points and Chris Prizeman and Rob Ehresman added 12 points apiece for Cathedral Prep (7-15, 4-8), which had its three-game winning streak snapped Monday. Christ the King 56, McCorriston Catholic (Hamilton, N.J.) 44. Larry Davis had 13 points and 8 rebounds and Akeem Gooding added 9 points and 10 boards for Christ the King (23-1) at the Prime Time Shootout in Trenton, N.J. Sunday.Holy Cross 73, St. Francis Prep 66. Kevin Ogletree had 17 points, Bradley Everett had 12 points, Michael Johnson had 11 and Gordon McKenzie and Laurence Jolicoeur added 10 points apiece for Holy Cross (16-7, 5-5 CHSAA 'AA') Friday night.Cathedral Prep 65, St. Agnes 54. Liander had 24 points and was 12-for-14 from the foul line and Prizeman scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for Cathedral last Thursday.Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.