Xaverian Byrnes Stepinac!

BROOKLYN, NY- It was a text that Xaverian head coach Clyde Chapman got on Saturday night that made him feel even more confident than he already was about his team's chances going into Sunday afternoon's game against one of the favorites this season in the CHSAA in Archbishop Stepinac.

Chapman was a bit unsure of what his defensive game plan was going to be against McDonald's All-American guard and North Carolina commit R.J. Davis '20, that was until a late Saturday night text from one of his guards in Ian Byrne '20 settled any questions he had in his mind.

"Ian texted me at 11:15 last night and he said coach I'm guarding R.J.," Chapman stated. "I was thinking about putting Nick Folk '20 on him and I spoke to the kids about that yesterday but Ian said I got him in his text so Nick can focus on scoring so that's what we were going to do."

While Byrne may not be the household name to many when you talk to his fellow Clippers teammates they sure feel he is one of the more underrated and under-appreciated players around.

His offensive contributions may be small averaging just over 5 points per game for Xaverian, but according to Folk there is no doubt about what he offers on the defensive side of the floor, and with Byrne exuding confidence about his abilities to handle and contain Davis, everyone else began to believe as well.

"We were gonna throw the best defender in New York State on him in Ian and I was like that's it, we're good," Folk said.

From the start it was Byrne playing Davis extremely tight and physical defense, not giving him room or space to create off the dribble which in turn stagnated and slowed down everything Stepinac wanted to do. In turn, Xaverian were thriving in the early going as Folk was draining three's as he connected on 5 in the opening half from behind the arc, while the other Clippers sharpshooter Billy Reyes '20 connected on three more.

Xaverian was able to take a 10 point lead midway through the second quarter before Justin Morety '20 started to get going himself for the Crusaders as even with Davis being limited to just 4 first half points, all of which came from the FT line, it was Stepinac hanging close down just 33-29 going into the locker room.

The lead for the Clippers may have been just 4 but going into the break with a lead had Xaverian feeling as confident as ever. Byrne was doing exactly what everyone on the Clippers side knew he could do against Davis, and Reyes said that emotion was carrying over to the rest of the group.

"It just felty like we couldn't be stopped. Nick was hitting shots, I was hitting shots, Ian was doing his thing defensively, we had it going on," Reyes explained.

A strong opening half was good but Chapman said he had seen this before as the Clippers put together a solid effort for a half of play in last season's CHSAA Intersectional Quarterfinals against Stepinac before falling in the second half to end their season. He stressed to his team in the locker room to not lose their edge and keep pushing and fighting to be able to this time finish the job.

Reyes out of the gate to start the third quarter banged home his fourth three ball of the game to send a message to the Crusaders. Stepinac head coach Pat Massaroni said it was critical after giving up 8 made three's in the first half to defend the perimeter better but giving up one less than a minute into the third quarter was a sign that this just may not be their day.

After going without a FG for nearly three full quarters Davis finally got one to go on a tough drive down the lane with 2:08 to go in the third quarter to get Stepinac within 44-41, but with the Xaverian crowd chanting overrated at the UNC bound star, and with Byrne's confidence and defense holding up well, it was still proving to be a tough go for him.

Credit has to go to Davis who was still facilitating the offense even though his shot wasn't falling, dishing out beautiful passes to the likes of Morety and Malcolm Chimezie '21 down low to keep his impact on the game going.

Each time it looked as if Stepinac was going to make a run to tie things up or possibly take the lead someone from Xaverian made a big play be it a Shawn Fulcher '21 steal or a big Folk or Reyes shot. With just under 6 minutes to play and the Crusaders within 58-57 it was Folk catching and shooting from the right corner for his 7th made three of the game, tying his career high to push the lead for the Clippers back up to 4.

That was as close as Stepinac would get the rest of the way as a frustrated Davis was called for a technical foul, while in the closing seconds of the game Massaroni was called for one himself as well as Xaverian would go 13-24 from behind the three point line, and with Folk going off for 31 points it was a good day for the Clippers who led throughout and took the 74-63 victory over the Crusaders.

Along with Folk's 31 points it was Reyes adding 21 as well for Xaverian, though both were quick to heap praise on the job Byrne did defensively to limit Davis to just three made FG's in the game and 13 points. That shows the maturity of this Clippers team according to Chapman who feels like a win like this will only help his team prepare for what's to come ahead.

"We want to be there at the end but we know how hard that is going to be so we just got to stay the course, get through this part of the season, and keep progressing and today was just another step in the right direction for us," Chapman said.

Everyone did their job on Sunday with Byrne proving he is among the elite defenders in New York, while Folk and Reyes showed what they are capable of from the outside in what can only be described as one of the more complete performances from Xaverian in some time.

They don't want this to be their high water mark of the season though with Folk saying he believes this is just the start of something bigger for his team, a team he thinks and believes has the capability of taking home the title come the end of the season.

"We are a championship team," Folk said. "We all believe that and that's it for us, that's what it's all about."