By John Boell Newsday

There were still 23 seconds left in the state CHSAA Class A semifinals as St. Anthony’s Andre Snoddy and his four teammates were subbed out and sent to the bench.

The talented 6-5 senior untucked his Friars jersey and pulled it over his head. He later stood with his hands on his hips with his head down.

The final horn sounded as Canisius (Buffalo) defeated St. Anthony’s, 55-40, at Hofstra’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Saturday night.

Canisius (23-3) advances to the state CHSAA Class A championship on Saturday at Fordham University’s historic Rose Hill Gymnasium. St. Anthony’s season ends at 21-6.

“I’m depressed,” said Snoddy through tears. “It hurts so bad to lose this game.”

St. Anthony’s fell behind 18-5 after the first quarter, and was never closer than nine points the rest of the game.

“The first quarter was the difference,” said Snoddy, who had a team-high 15 points with six rebounds. “We dug too deep a hole, and couldn’t get back.”

After trailing at the half 31-14, St. Anthony's played its best basketball of the game in the third quarter. The Friars scored 16 points in the third quarter -- including a 10-2 run to open the period -- and trailed 42-30 at the end of three. John Garvey, who was scoreless in the first half, hit a pair of three-pointers and free throws for eight points in the period. He ended up with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks.

The Friars got within nine points in the third period, and within 48-38 with 1:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, but could not budge the difference anymore. Joe Ciocca had 20 points and Dewayne Vass added 17 points for Canisius.

St. Anthony’s coach Sal Lagano made no excuses after the game, and acknowledged the Friars’ slow start was the difference.

“Once a couple of shots didn’t go in,” Lagano said, “we started to press a little.”

Still, it doesn’t take away from a program that has won two of the last three Long Island CHSAA titles.

The last three players to come out of the Friars locker room were Garvey, Snoddy and Frank Stallone, the last two who were the Friars’ captain.

Lagano mentioned that Snoddy and Stallone would sit on the Friars freshman team’s bench during games to help assist in coaching the young players.

“They are great leaders,” Lagano said. “When you have captains like that, it makes it easy to be the coach.”

The loss wasn’t easy for the Friars, especially Snoddy who was consoled by family and friends after the game.

“He carried this program,” said Lagano of Snoddy. “He made people around him better.”

Which made the sting of losing in the semifinals hurt even more for Snoddy and his Friar teammates like Garvey.

“We all put a lot of hard work into this, and I had a lot of fun and great memories from this program,” said Garvey, a senior. “They were a great group of guys, and I’m going to miss them. I’m going to miss them a lot.”

By Owen O'Brien Newsday
photo by James Escher

Andre Snoddy wasn’t playing around anymore.

What happened in the previous 24 minutes didn’t matter to the St. Anthony’s senior guard. It was the next eight minutes that was going to define his basketball season with the Friars -- which ended up extending to 12 minutes. 

Snoddy was unwavering and unwilling to accept defeat with his fourth-quarter approach. He scored 10 of his 18 points in the period as St. Anthony’s defeated Holy Trinity, 51-47, in overtime in the boys basketball Nassau/Suffolk CHSAA Class A championship game at Hofstra’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex Tuesday evening.

“Fourth quarter, we just told ourselves as seniors, we had to step it up now,” Snoddy said. “We’re not going home with a loss.”

Top-seeded St. Anthony’s (21-5) advances to play in the state CHSAA Class A semifinals at Hofstra Saturday at 6:30 p.m. after winning its second league title in the last three years. The state championship will be March 14 at Fordham University. No. 2 Holy Trinity finished at 20-6.

Snoddy used his 6-5 size to his advantage to work in the paint to create a layup with nine seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 43 and force overtime. The basket came after Holy Trinity’s T.J. Long had a pivotal steal near midcourt, leading to Mike Sixsmith being fouled at the basket with 22 seconds left. The senior guard hit both foul shots to give the Titans a 43-41 advantage.

“I put a lot of work in the gym just for moments like this,” Snoddy said. “To step up and show I’m one of the premier players on Long Island. And I couldn’t do that without my teammates.”

Defense has been the calling card for the Friars all season -- and the championship was no different. Tristan Correa, who added 12 points including two key free throws with 34.5 seconds left in overtime to give St. Anthony’s a five-point lead, helped contain the Titans’ talented guards.

“Without Tristan, we’re not getting this championship right here,” Snoddy said. “He showed a lot of courage, a lot of heart and that’s why we won -- because of him.”

St. Anthony’s outscored Holy Trinity, 8-4, in the overtime period.

“Sometimes you have a team that you just root for, and I think it would upset me more if they lost,” coach Sal Lagano said. “And we beat a great team today, but I just root for these guys. You fall in love with a team sometimes and I’m at that point.”

By Owen O'Brien Newsday
Photo by Dawn McCormick

St. Anthony’s isn’t looking to run a team out of the gym. In this basketball era where many teams are pushing the ball up and down the floor from start to finish to generate as many possessions as possible, the Friars are more focused on limiting opposing team’s second chances.

And in the second half, that’s exactly what St. Anthony’s did. The Friars held St. Mary’s to 16 points over the final 16 minutes as No. 1 St. Anthony’s defeated No. 4 St. Mary’s, 60-37, in a CHSAA Class A boys basketball semifinal at LIU's Brookville campus Sunday night.

“The key was to really play defense and give them just one shot,” guard Andre Snoddy said. “If they got the offensive rebound, it would have made it tougher. They are tough -- just like us -- so we had to give them one shot and we did.”

St. Anthony’s (20-5) advances to play No. 2 Holy Trinity (20-5) in the CHSAA Class A championship at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hofstra. The winner advances to the CHSAA state semifinal. St. Mary’s finishes at 17-9.  

Snoddy set the tone on both ends of the floor and led all scorers with 23 points.

“I think we came into this game prepared,” he said. “We knew how St. Mary’s plays. We played them twice already. The main thing was to bring energy tonight and I think we did that.”

St. Anthony’s took a 23-21 lead at halftime. But the Friars outscored St. Mary’s 37-16 in the second half, including a 15-3 run over a span of 5 minutes, 25 seconds to take a 44-29 lead with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter.

“The best thing was the communication and the adjustments,” St. Anthony's coach Sal Lagano said. “We work a lot on defense and these guys have a good IQ for defense. We’re not the highest scoring team, but we did a good job tonight.”

Louis Stallone, who had four points and nine rebounds, credited senior guard Tristan Correa for sparking the defense.

“I think he’s the best defender on Long Island,” Stallone said. “He locks down anybody he guards and we let him do his thing. Our backup behind him helped and I think we just did a great job of rebounding.”

Now, the Friars are one win away from their second title in three years.

“I don’t know if a lot of people had us here at the beginning of the season and to win the regular-season title,” Lagano said. “But Holy Trinity has a lot of talent, and is a really, really good basketball team.

“This is March Madness, so we came here working,” Snoddy said. “We really knew we could make a deep run to the championship game and that’s what we did.”

Vs. St. Mary's

Come support and catch the live stream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tz6zTkmNa8

$5.00 entry fee

CONGRATULATION
2019-2020 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS

The St. Anthony’s boys basketball team opened league play with a good look of what was to come with its opening day win back on Jan. 10th vs. Kellenberg. Confirmation of how well this teamed had gelled and put themselves on a path for a CHSAA League Title came with an eleven game league win streak. 

Finishing conference play 12-2 and owning the number 1 seed going into playoffs. Currently 19-5 overall with Semi-Finals on Sunday March 1st. vs. a strong and fast St. Mary’s. Expectations are high looking for one more win to keep the dream alive and play for the Champion Title on March 3rd at 7:30pm at Hofstra.

Sundays game will be live broadcast on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tz6zTkmNa8

Watch to see future Friar Broadcasters Alex Rocco, Jarred Valluzzi and Justin Figueroa bringing you the action live.    

St. Anthony’s Boys Varsity Basketball team is coming off an 18-7 2018 season and lost to Holy Trinity in the CHSAA semi- finals.  In 2017 they claimed the CHSAA Championship title and are hungry for a championship title again, but know the journey will not be easy.

The Friars lost several key players including Makhai Murphy and Jevon Burke two seniors who played a vital role on last year’s team. Coach Lagano said, “We have to hope that guys can mature quickly. Nothing teaches like playing time. Guys will get great opportunities. They will come in, get better, get repetition, and get more minutes. It’s the maturation process of high school basketball. One guy leaves who had a great career and the next guy steps up. We’re looking for the guys to be really team oriented and get better together.” 

This year’s team features 8 seniors, including Andre Snoddy and Louis Stallone. Snoddy and Stallone have been improving each year and this season are expected a breakout season from the two of them. Snoddy is one of the more versatile players on Long Island, with the ability to create plays both inside and outside. He is taking over at point guard this year but is also one of the team’s top rebounders and defenders. He is averaging 18.6 points through seven games, including a 28 point, six rebounds and four assists game in a win over Salesian.  Stallone, who is verbally committed to play baseball at Arkansas, has great size and athleticism. He is averaging 9.4 points and has at least 13 rebounds in five of seven games as a rim protector.

Stallone said, “This year’s team is very deep, there are a ton of guys that can come in and contribute.”  Senior Jack Walshe is one of the other leaders for the Friars with his toughness and basketball IQ as he provides additional team strength. Stallone said, “Everyone on our team brings certain skills to the table.  Our younger guys have done a great job of picking up the speed of the varsity game and are starting to prove themselves and earn their playing time. They are still adjusting and learning everyday. Their development will be key in having league play success and this program will depend on these guys to carry on this great culture Coach Lagano has built.” Two sophomores, Dakari Thomas and Jalyke Wyatt-Gaines are starting to come into their own and display their skill sets.

St. Anthony’s pride themselves on playing a hard physical brand of basketball.  Snoddy said, “Defense travels and will always keep you in games. We have a tough group of athletes who fight for every rebound and loose ball.”  The Friars offense is based on sharing the ball. It features a lot of quick passes and cuts to the rim. When the offense is clicking it can be very lethal. 

The Friars have lofty expectations for the season. Stallone said, “The expectations are always to win a championship. We are super focused on reaching our goal this year, everyone from the starters to the bench to our coaches put in 110% effort at every practice and game.” 

SA enters league play with 7-3 record with impressive wins over Trinity Catholic (CT), Thurgood Marshall, New Paltz, Salesian and Malverne. 

Snoddy said, “I think every team in our league is good and will provide a challenge. The Catholic League is the best league on Long Island hands down but Holy Trinity for sure is definitely the must watch game.”  

League play begins on Friday January 10th at home against Kellenberg. Come out and support the Black and Gold as they start the run for the Championship.

Scoreboard Writer - Alex Rocco is a senior at St. Anthony’s High School, writing for his fourth year with the Friar Scoreboard.  He plans to study Sports Communications in college and pursue a career in Sports Media. He is also a member of NHS, SALT, Friar Faithful, Special Needs Ministry and Franciscan Youth Ministry.

St. Anthony's guard Andre Snoddy moves the ball through mid court against Mt. Saint Michaels on Jan. 4 in the Shooting Stars Basketball Showcase at Long Island Lutheran. Credit: George A. Faella

By Owen O'Brien February 11, 2020 6:38 PM

Three things to watch as the CHSAA boys basketball regular season comes to an end.

1. St. Anthony’s looking to bring home a title

Andre Snoddy has been nearly unguardable all season, averaging 20.5 points, and the Friars have received strong play from the 6-8 Louis Stallone inside. St. Anthony’s has been one step ahead of a very strong CHSAA all year as the end of the regular season nears.

St. Anthony’s has another tough test, hosting defending champion Holy Trinity at 7:30 p.m. Friday. 

2. Plenty of competition in the CHSAA

(Note: All stats and records are through Feb. 10)

The CHSAA has been without a doubt one of the most exciting and competitive leagues on Long Island this season -- and maybe in recent memory. Besides St. Anthony’s, there are three other teams that should be feeling very confident in themselves and hold a belief they could be the ones holding the title at the end. Here are their cases:

St. Mary’s: Ira Hunt, who made the move from assistant to head coach this season, has the Gaels contending for a title. St. Mary’s gave St. Anthony’s one of its toughest tests in league play this season, losing by two points on the road. Nicholas Cham leads the team with 15.7 points per game, along with Sal Saputo (14.5 points) and Jovayne Walters (12.3 points). St. Mary’s has the size and the talent to be right in the championship picture.

Holy Trinity: The defending CHSAA champions have had another strong season from Mike Sixsmith, who is averaging 18.4 points per game, and TJ Long is averaging 24.1 points after sitting out last year due to transfer rules. Sixsmith and Long both are knockdown shooters and could make up the top backcourt on Long Island. With the two of them sharing the floor, the Titans always have good reason to feel confident about a possible repeat.

Chaminade: The Flyers seem to be in the championship mix every season, and there’s no reason to think this year is different. They’ve played a tough non-league schedule and are hovering around .500 in the CHSAA. But with Kieran Dorney (23.9 points) as one of the top big men on Long Island and also possessing the ability to shoot, he can take over a game and bring Chaminade on a deep postseason run.

3. Playoff schedule coming soon

The CHSAA playoffs begin the week of Feb. 24. Seedings are still to be determined.

BOYS BASKETBALL 

Head Coach Mr. Lagano (slagano@stanthonyshs.org)

Saturday November 9th
JV 2:30-4:30 pm
Varsity 4:30-6:30 pm

Sunday November 10th
Varsity 12-2 pm
JV 4:15-6:15 pm

Monday November 11th
Varsity 12-2:15 pm
JV 4:15-6:00 pm