It was a basketball fan’s championship dream: even at halftime, tied at the end of regulation, and down to the final seconds before Archbishop Stepinac High School was crowned Catholic High School Athletic Association Intersectional champions for the third year in a row.

Sunday’s game featured a rematch of the archdiocesan championship, with St. Raymond’s School for Boys taking on the Stepinac Crusaders for the fourth time this season.

The teams met two weeks ago for the archdiocese title, a game in which St. Ray’s trailed by eight at the half and never led. Stepinac had also won both regular-season games against their Bronx rival.

Earlier in the intersectional tournament, which pits Archdiocese of New York teams against those from the Diocese of Brooklyn, Stepinac and St. Ray’s respectively had swept aside their opponents from across the East River to set up a rematch to determine New York City’s top Catholic High School “AA” division team, this time at Fordham University’s Rose Hill Gymnasium.

Sunday was a little different. The teams leaned into their defense, and St. Ray’s senior stars Brandon Stores Jr. and Tai Turnage – both potentially playing their final games as Ravens – gave it their all, along with 6’7” junior forward Luis Carillo Moss, who turned in his best game of the season. A low-scoring first half saw the Ravens and the Crusaders head for the dressing room tied at 26.

The second half was even tighter, with each team scoring fewer total points than in the first. As the game went into its final minute, St. Ray’s looked poised for the upset, leading 51-45. However, the steady hand of Stepinac’s Jasiah Jervis cut the lead to three, and it stayed that way until, with 17 seconds remaining, Carillo Moss missed a three that Stores Jr. couldn’t follow up. The resulting rebound was made by Stepinac’s towering junior Adonis Ratliff, who passed to senior Danny Carbuccia. Carbuccia brought the ball up and passed to Dylan Perry, who made the layup and drew a foul. Perry completed the three-point play, and the second half ended with the two teams tied at 51.

The four-minute overtime period began with Jervis sinking a three-point shot, followed by teammate Hassan Koureissi hitting another three for a six-point lead. St. Ray’s overtime energy never matched its earlier effort, and despite a high school career-ending three by Stores Jr. bringing the Ravens within two, time ran out and Stepinac prevailed, 63-61.

For Stepinac, it was another team effort, with Jervis leading the team with 17 points and three rebounds, followed by Koureissi, who added 13 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. For CHSAA Coach of the Year Patrick Massaroni, it’s his first double in the last three years.

The game, and the season, will no doubt leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Ravens’ Coach Jorge Lopez and graduating seniors Tai Turnage, who will play next fall at Quinnipiac College, and Brandon Stores Jr., who is heading for Georgia Tech. Despite returning talent in Carillo Moss and Camara, the Ravens played below their potential throughout the season, seemingly peaking just in time for the playoffs, but coming home empty-handed in the two end-of-season tournaments.  

Stepinac will take the court one more time to defend their city title against the Public School Athletic League champion in a game tentatively set for March 23, at a venue to be confirmed. The Crusaders sauntered to victory in last year’s contest against the Brooklyn Academy Eagles, 75-64.