By Dean Vayias ’18

The Flyers crossed the Verrazano Bridge on Saturday, January 9 to tip off against back-to-back Staten Island champions, the Eagles of St. Peter’s; however, the Flyers, coming off of a championship season of their own, were not intimidated.

Each half of the game told a different story for the Flyers.  In the first, the Flyers dominated the court with suffocating defense and ferocious rebounding.  The Flyer’s up-tempo offense featured excellent passing, sharp shooting, and balanced scoring.  In the second quarter, the Flyers’ defense only allowed the Eagles to score nine points.  The Flyers led 40-23 at halftime.

However, in the second half, a new story began.  Coming out of the locker room after halftime, St. Peter’s was charged and ready to prove why they were the back-to-back Staten Island champions.  The Eagles dominated the third quarter with great shooting from behind the three-point arc, as the Flyers struggled to find their mojo.

The St. Peter’s gym woke up with fans loudly cheering on their team.  St. Peter’s outscored Chaminade 23-14 in the third quarter and cut their 17-point halftime deficit down to eight.  The fourth quarter started similarly to the third with the feisty Eagles continuing to claw back into the game.  The Eagles benefited by the absence of the referee’s whistle on a crucial shot clock violation, helping their crawl back to the top.

A game that looked to be over at halftime was now up for grabs.  With about three minutes to go in the game, St. Peter’s took their first lead of the game on a three-point shot.  The Flyers seemed to be on the wrong end of this run, but that didn’t stop Mike McGuire ’16 from draining a key three pointer seconds later to give the Flyers a lead they would not give back.  As the clock continued to wind down, the Flyers made several big stops on defense, and St. Peter’s became desperate and began to foul. Mike McGuire and Ryan Dean ’16 hit several key free throws down the stretch to extend the lead and keep pressure on the Eagles.  When the final buzzer sounded, the Flyers came out on top, 74-65.

“We struggled in the second half, but we made some key stops at the end to help lead us to victory,” said Mike McGuire.  

Congratulations to the Flyers on their well-deserved win!