Left, Brendan Corelli drives to the hoop for the Wolves. Right, Will Civetta of John Jay scores inside against Peekskill. GABE PALACIO PHOTOS.
By JIM MACLEAN
It was an impressive second half of the season for the John Jay boys varsity basketball team, but the Wolves were not able to secure a happy finish suffering a first-round playoff loss on the road at Peekskill on Feb. 22.
Despite the playoff loss, John Jay came a long way since December when the team got off to a 1-5 start as the Wolves turned it around and finished with an 11-10 overall record and were crowned as league champions. John Jay won the League 2-D championship going 5-1 in league action.
“That was a big goal that we checked off as a group this year,” John Jay coach Tyler Sayre said of the league title. “Especially given the 1-5 start, to rebound and have a 5-1 league record was a great accomplishment. We stayed focused on getting better throughout the season as a group and I think we were able to do that.”
After wrapping up the league title, John jay entered the post-season with an 11-9 mark to earn the No. 13-seed for the Section 1 Class AA tournament.
The Wolves knew it would be a tough task ahead facing No. 4-seed Peekskill in the first round on the road. Peekskill features a pair of offensive threats with Jaden Chavis and Isaiah Crawford creating a tough match up to defend.
Peekskill had defeated John Jay easily during the regular season, but there would be no let up for the playoffs. The Red Devils were fired up on their home court, pulling away for a 62-38 victory to end the season for the Wolves.
“Peekskill was always going to be a tough matchup for us,” admitted Sayre. “They are talented and physical and have two really strong players. If you would have told me that Colin Bishop and Ryan Valdes would have equaled the scoring output from Chavis and Crawford for Peekskill I would have thought we would be in a good spot, but their role players were really effective and we didn’t shoot the ball well.”
Bishop finished with 15 points to lead the way for John jay, while Valdes added 14 points and six assists for the Wolves. Chavis and Crawford each finished with 15 points to lead Peekskill to the win.
Valdes was among the eight seniors on the roster for John Jay that finished their high school careers on the court at Peekskill. Sayre credited the senior class for leading the way and helping the Wolves turn it around after the slow start to close out their career as league champions. The seniors led a true team effort as the Wolves featured a balanced lineup with many different players leading the way in scoring on any given night.
“Our team was great at competing all year, which I’m very proud of them for, and the senior class led the way in terms of working hard every day in practice and I’m hoping that will stick with our younger guys,” Sayre said of his senior class. “Ryan Valdes earned All-Conference, Brendan Corelli and Will Civetta were All-League, and Will Rickel was honorable mention All-League. The overall competitiveness and unselfishness of this class is my biggest takeaway. They never cared who was scoring or getting the credit and all were great about celebrating their teammates’ success.”