Who will play for the Manhattan Cup?
Talk about a tough-to-figure final four for the Monsignor Martin Association.
The semifinals are Sunday evening at Canisius College. The first game pits the teams that love to hate each other, Canisius and St. Joe's, at 6 p.m. In the second semifinal, top-seeded Nichols taking on Bishop Timon-St. Jude at 7:30 p.m.
Canisius swept St. Joe's this season in two blowouts. The Crusaders won, 79-54, at St. Joe's on Jan. 27, and Canisius won, 70-57, at home last Sunday. Those are the only two losses for St. Joe's in its last 11 games; the Marauders also knocked off Nichols.
If there's any two teams where, after two double-digit wins, you'd still think the third meeting could go the other way, it's this one. The Koessler Athletic Center is sure to be packed for a game that will end one of the rivals' seasons.
Nichols takes on a Timon team that stunned the Vikings at home, 54-51, on Feb. 6; however, Nichols struck back less than one week later in a 64-47 rout.
Vote in the polls below and let us know why your picks will win via the comments section. If you're really bold, tell us how the final will go as well.
My vote? You toss out the records when it's Canisius-St. Joe's, but those big wins are resonating with me. And Timon's upset of Nichols seems, in retrospect, to be a wake-up call of sorts. I've thought that Canisius and Nichols would battle in the final all season long and I don't see any reason to change.
There are more previews and polls to come: We'll post polls on all the Section VI boys semifinals as well as the girls finals.
---Keith McShea
I wasn't paying attention to the SJCI bench, but it seemed to me that Mulhern's "limited minutes" meant playing him whenever Wilson was on the court and resting him otherwise. Zdrojewski isn't the best offensively, and the Marauders didn't need a huge inside game the way their guards stepped up. If Mulhern was sick, then kudos to him for playing well against Wilson.
Posted by: msgrmartinfan | February 24, 2008 at 11:25 PM
steve u make no sense...the way it looked mulhern and kowalski played pretty strong considering that i assume mulhern was pretty ill due to the fact he played limited minutes and had a garbage can in front of him most of the 3rd quarter and if my eyes arnt lying to me mulhern is bigger than wilson
Posted by: hoopfan555 | February 24, 2008 at 11:15 PM
Very well done Steve
Posted by: centercourt | February 24, 2008 at 11:05 PM
Please pass ths Crow....I'm going to be chowing down here for a while....
Pretty good 2 games of roundball. Young Mr. M has definately earned my respect. He played quite a game. St. Joes was the best team on that court tonight, both games included. Kowalski earned my respect as he held his own and clearly won his final battle with with Wilson.
Didn't anyone tell young Pat that this was a do or die playoff game? Or does his game only have one gear? He may have ended up with 16 points or so, but a little effort would've gotten him 30 and they may have won the game. He appeared worn out for most of the game. When he bothered to go underneath, he got outworked. Let's not even talk about all the missed lay-ups.
Nichols was its usual self in their blow out of Timon. Will effortlesly put down about 24 while Jim added 16 or so. There are 2 big guys that St. Joes will nave to defend. Timon will now have a walk in to the Class B State Catholic School championship. Not bad considering they had a losing record.
The Joes/Nichols rubber match will be fun to watch. I can't wait!
Posted by: Steve | February 24, 2008 at 10:25 PM
good call...steve
Posted by: baller56 | February 24, 2008 at 10:18 PM
See you at the games boys! I can't wait! MMA action at its finest! I'm not a fan of any of the teams (in fact I despise the top 3) but I know what I know. Okay...so maybe Regan isn't player of the year...
One last comment: Wilson will handle the big men St. Joe's has. He's been dominating Kowalski since grammar school and he's just too big for the Spoph. Mulhern. Ragusa and Young will be too much for the Moaning Marauders... I see a repeat of last week.
Posted by: Steve | February 24, 2008 at 01:50 PM
I do agree with you msgrmartinfan. The big men at Joes will have to play better if the marauders want to have a chance tonight. Theyll need to limit the crusaders to one and out possessions. For one of these two senior classes, tonight will be their last night of high school basketball. We'll see whos goin home empty handed by nine o'clock tonight. This one should be another good insallment of high school postseason at its finest. Good luck to all four tonight!
Posted by: WNYWizard | February 24, 2008 at 01:21 PM
You can talk all you like about Maiarana and Ragusa (who had 10 points from the field by my count - 2 3's and 2 mid-range jumpers) but St Joe's needs to get solid play from the big men Mulhern and Kowalski. In the last game, Kowalski did almost nothing inside and was something like 1/7 shooting - none from inside the paint - and Mulhern played well for stretches but seemed to get tired in the 4th and was largely ineffective when Pat Wilson was in on both sides of the ball - Wilson had 8 of his ten points in the 2nd half, 6 from the field.
The seniors from both teams will need to step up tonight. I'm not terribly confident in Canisius' ability to win a close game but that's what they're going to have to do.
Posted by: msgrmartinfan | February 24, 2008 at 01:01 PM
O im sorry that im not informed on my beer commercials Steve. I dont pride myself on that. But as i said 14, yes. Take away seven from free throws at the end of the game. So 14-7 is 7. Then i said he hit a wide open three off of a double screen. So 7-3 is 4. SO all in all he held Anthony Ragusa to 4 points. O and by the way when Joes beat Nichols he scored 5 points in the last minute. Im pretty sure five points in one minute is better than 4 all game. And what about the 38 against East. We will see at 730 whos right, but hopefully at nine oclock an upset wont have just happened either.
Hoopfan555 i agree with you. It is ridiculous
Posted by: WNYWizard | February 24, 2008 at 12:07 PM
will regan for player of the year is the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard! Ragusa is better, Tabb is better, Webb is better, heck Anthony Greene or Tyshawn Edwards is a better pick for player of the year. Do not get me wrong Will is an incredible player he just isnt the player of the year, atleast not this year
Posted by: hoopfan555 | February 24, 2008 at 12:05 PM
ONLY 14 points. Not good enough, (Wizard?). You'll see at about 7:30 tonight that your post was TOTALLY wrong, starting with the Budwiser commercial you mention. It's for LaBatt's. And my comments are "real good, yep, real good!"
Posted by: Steve | February 24, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Alright Steve,
I really don't catch your drift about Mr. Mairana not playing D. If i do recall the last time he played Canisius he held Anthony Ragusa to 14 points. And i'm pretty sure that seven of them came from the charity stike when Joes had to foul at the end of the game. The only real time that Ragusa scored on him was when a double screen left him wide open for a three. And when he played Nichols he took Ronnie Conestro out of the game which led to a Joes victory.
And one question.. How is Saint Joe's not good enough to beat Canisius if they beat your so called "cream of the crop" Nichols. Its the playoffs its a whole new season, anything can happen. I beleive you are wrong on that. So as the Budweiser commercial says, "Real good Steve, real good"
Posted by: WNYWizard | February 24, 2008 at 11:22 AM
Sorry Joe's fans, they're just not good enough. In tomorrow's game they need 5 to play defense, not 4 (with a basket hanging guard... if you catch my drift). I don't see young Mr. M. learning to play D in one day. Canisius should beat them handily.
I said at the beginning of the year that Nichols was the cream of the crop. Except for lack of concentration in 2 games, they'd be perfect. They've learned from those games and have gotten better. Another Canisius/Nichols battle will be fun to watch.
Will Regan should be the player of the year, unless Jamal Webb wins it.
Posted by: Steve | February 24, 2008 at 01:51 AM
I have thought all along that Canisius & Nichols would be there at the end. But now faced with making a prediction, something tells me Joe's won't lose three straight to its rival.
Posted by: centercourt | February 23, 2008 at 03:49 PM
Wow!I witnessed Lackawanna hold East Aurora scoreless in the first quarter of tonights Section VI basketball playoff game!
Posted by: Bill | February 22, 2008 at 11:11 PM
I agree anyone could win the Joe's game, but having seen both previous games it seems Canisius has Joe's number. Didn't think the second game was ever in doubt.
Posted by: hsbballfan | February 22, 2008 at 10:04 PM
Dear Keith,
Instead of reading the news account of the second game maybe you should ask some one that was at the game and not biased toward the Crusaders. It was NOT a blowout anything but. With 2 minutes left Maiarana missed a floater in the lane that would have cut it to 4. Most of the second half was close after Joes scored the first 10 and cut it to six. Canisius deserves all the credit for winning both games and finishing 2nd, but I'll bet Coach Husband isn't quite as confident as you seem to be.
Posted by: jwh12 | February 22, 2008 at 07:35 PM